Changed Circumstance
by Quinis
Summary: To his friends, Netto Hikari just vanished one day. To his family, Netto's life ended. To the people in Hub's new school, he's Megaman.
1. Chapter 1

**N** **otes** : Another Megaman/Rockman fanfiction. This one is one that I originally started writing months ago - in fact the first section was completely copied from that first draft of this idea. That draft had a couple of storytelling problems which lead to me writing myself into a wall (basically, I was having trouble getting the plot to work). Then, while in class one day, I started drafting this story where Hub was the one at school with his navi, Megaman. I blended the two ideas together because they fit so well.

I use the English and Japanese names for this one. For reference:

 **RockmanEXE** is _Saito Hub Hikari_ (commonly called 'Hub') in the physical world and _Rockman_ (sometimes known as Rock) in the digital world. He is a blue coloured navi and wears blue while in the copyroid/copybot.

 **MegamanEXE** is _Netto Lan Hikari_ (known as 'Netto' by his old friends and 'Lan' in this new place) in the physical world and _Megaman_ in the digital world. He is an orange coloured navi and wears orange while in the copyroid/copybot.

Their English names became their middle names because 1) I loved that in 'The Laws of Robotics AU' by Darkspace7 and 2) it explains where the names came from as Netto and Saito go by Lan and Hub in this new place their father moved them to.

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

* * *

"Rockbuster!" Rockman said as he fired upon the little yellow, hard hat wearing mettaur. The virus was deleted and he grinned.

"Nice!" Netto said with a laugh. He was standing right behind Rockman because the blue navi wouldn't let him fight any of the viruses. "Now what? More virus busting?"

"It's not like we can hang out with the others while you're like that," Rockman pointed out. Netto looked down at himself. He was tinted blue to show how he was just a consciousness uploaded to the net.

Netto would normally be synced with Rockman instead of running around as person data. However, their father had said that full synchro while Netto's body was being operated on would be dangerous.

"I want to explore," Netto decided. Rockman nodded, reminding his brother and Netop that they weren't to leave the Scilab computer. "I know that. It's fine. There's plenty to look at here."

Above them, their father chuckled to himself as he watched his two children roam around. It was the lightest he felt in days, although it could be worry making him lightheaded. This was one of the safeguards he had in place so that he would not lose Netto should the worst happen.

Suddenly Netto was hit by an invisible force, like a large rubber band snapping against the back of his head. He stumbled to his knees, head stinging. He didn't hear Rockman calling his name or when his brother called for their father. He felt like he needed to throw up but couldn't. He retched and whimpered.

* * *

Netto slumped in Rockman's arms. Rockman looked up at their father. He had followed their father's instructions, transferring the shutdown protocol sent to him into Netto.

"What's going on?" he said. Netto was still as a statue. Megaman still picked up warmth from him, his brother still processing, still online.

Their father's expression was hidden. His hair fell over his eyes as he kept his gaze on what he was typing.

"Papa! What's going on?" Rockman called again.

He received no answer. The data which made up his brother seemed to shudder and fuzz at the edges. "Papa!" he bellowed.

A panel in front of him opened up, a pod coming out of it.

"Put Netto in there," Dr Hikari said.

Rockman glared up at his father as he lifted his brother's unconscious data body and placed it upright in the pod. The pod grasped the data, holding it upright as the door closed.

Now Dr Hikari could work on the data which made up his youngest son. Rockman looked from his father to the pod and back again.

A couple of weeks ago, Netto had been diagnosed with HBD, just like Saito had been as a baby. But there was a cure for HDB. The cure was why Netto was currently in surgery. It was supposed to work. Netto was supposed to live.

"Papa," Rockman said, his voice quiet. Dr Hikari didn't hear it. Rockman wasn't sure he wanted the answer to his unspoken question just yet. As if to spite him, an email came through for his father at the very moment. It was a summons from the hospital.

The language was written to be sympathetic, 'we know this must be a shock,' 'going through a tough time,' 'support of family,' 'support from our caring staff,' and all requesting that Dr Hikari come down because his son, Netto Hikari, had just died on the operating table.

Rockman's legs gave way. Tears dripped from his eyes to the ground, vanishing into data bits the moment they landed. Finally, he let out a sob and wail. He didn't care if his father heard him. He didn't care that his father was currently working to save Netto's consciousness.

Everything was going to change. Netto Hikari was dead.

* * *

Hub distantly heard someone calling for him. He yawned and opened his eyes just enough to focus on the world outside.

"What?" he mumbled into his arm. His PET was sitting in it's holder on his school desk. Inside, a very frustrated orange and yellow navi was frowning at him.

"It's lunchtime!" Megaman huffed. "You should be getting something to eat and talking with friends! Not sleeping!"

"Maybe I like sleeping," Hub countered with another yawn. "Besides, Mick and the others don't mind."

Megaman huffed and crossed his arms. Hub wondered if the attitude was because Mick seemed to try and fight with Lan whenever they met, behaviour he didn't show towards Hub.

"When was the last time you spoke to someone aside from me? Just to talk and not because the situation called for it?"

"..." Or maybe his digitised brother just wanted him to have friends. He had been distancing himself from people and navis a lot lately. "Sorry. Do you know where they went for lunch?"

Megaman grinned smugly. "Of course. They're on their way back now. Mick's navi told me so."

Hub smiled fondly at his navi. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Not having to do school work? Yeah!"

That wasn't what Hub had meant but he guessed it didn't matter. When they had moved here, their parents had taken a little convincing to let Hub be the one to go to school. However, it was with the promise that Lan would study as well. Lan just did everything online now as a distance student. It actually seemed to be a model which suited Lan and left his days free to be Hub's navi, Megaman.

* * *

Hub paused as he spotted a flyer in a window. It was for a new store opening soon.

"Higsby's Battle Chip shop?" he mused to himself. "Tab's family won't be happy about the competition."

"Who cares?" Megaman commented snarkily from the PET. He pointed at another thing on the sign. "They're going to have a Netbattle Competition."

"I suppose you want to enter?" Hub wasn't against that. The only question was, "as Hub and Megaman or Lan and Rock?"

"Papa'll be mad if Rockman makes an appearance, even if it's at a local competition. We'll have to go in as Hub and Megaman."

"And that's not because you want to experience battle against other navis?"

"And it's not because you want to try your skills against other operators?" Megaman countered.

The twins smiled at each other and laughed. Hub punched the air. "Okay, let's do this!"

* * *

Hub dressed in a white long sleeved shirt and pulled on a blue vest. He had almost put on one of Lan's pairs of pants that morning but Megaman had quickly corrected him. He had put away the pair with the orange-yellow stripe and pulled out the pair with the light blue stripe.

"Nervous?" Megaman asked.

Hub nodded. He was so nervous, he could barely speak. This was going to be their first competition like this. He really wanted to win and he didn't want his brother to get hurt.

"It'll be fine," Megaman said with a smile. He was ready and willing. "We're going to destroy the competition!"

"Y-yeah," Hub responded nervously. He took a deep breath. It was almost time. He clipped on his roller-skates as, after six months, he was just as quick as Lan was. Going fast always made him feel better and he was down at the new shop in no time flat.

"Oi! Hikari!" a voice called out harshly.

Hub went as stiff as a board and he mechanically turned to see who had called him. Mick walked over, a light scar on the side of his face and messy hair across his forehead.

"What's up? You entering too?"

Hub stumbled over words for a moment before saying that he was.

"Hah! I don't know what competition you'll be! I'm sure my navi and I will beat you!"

Hub frowned. "I don't know about that. I think Megaman and I can take you." He smiled at Mick. "But I guess we're going to have a chance to find out, aren't we? Good luck."

Mick huffed. "I don't need luck. Good luck though, Hub."

"Why is he nice to you?" Megaman questioned in shock. As Lan, Megaman had almost gotten into a fight with Mick more than once.

"Maybe it's because I'm nice back and I don't start a fight."

"Sure," Megaman responded in a disbelieving tone, crossing his arms over his symbol.

Hub spotted the line to sign up and joined it. He wondered what kinds of navis would be in this competition. They could probably make a couple of new friends here. Maybe. Hub always felt a heavy weight in his chest whenever he thought about friends.

His missed Rockman's friends… he missed his girlfriend…

"HUB! Stop daydreaming! It's our turn!"

Hub blinked and jolted right out of his thoughts. He apologised to the young lady taking names and wrote his own down. She looked familiar but it could have just been the maid uniform reminding him of the people who had worked for one of Lan's old friends.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

* * *

"Area steal, wide sword!" Hub announced to Megaman as he slot the chips into the PET. Megaman grinned and sliced through his opponent, who had nowhere to run. It was their fourth victory.

Hub breathed in relief, holding his PET to his chest. Inside, Megaman laughed. After all, what did his worrywart of a brother have to worry about? They were some of the strongest navis in the world! It would take more than a regular navi to take them down.

"Hurph, useless navi," Mick grumbled as he healed his navi. "Seems I underestimated you, Hub."

"I blame my useless operator," Mick's navi grumbled to Megaman. He held out a hand and they shook. "I could punch you out with the right support."

"How dare you!" Mick growled back, stomping his way of the stage, still arguing with his navi. However, it was obvious to anyone who knew them that they were close.

"So nice," Hub mused with a grin.

"You're making a goofy face," Megaman said with a laugh. "How about we get ready for our next competition?"

"Sure!" Hub paused as the announcement of the next battle took place. 'Eugene Chaud'. "I think he's had almost as many straight wins as us."

"He might be strong!" Megaman commented with a hopeful grin.

Hub nodded in agreement, something stirring in his chest. Was it excitement or worry?

* * *

"We made it to the final round!" Megaman cheered, throwing his hands in the air. The orange and yellow navi was over the moon. Even Hub was pleased with the events of the day.

"I feel bad about sending you into danger while I just stand there and feed you battle chips," Hub sighed.

Megaman laughed. "And here I was thinking you were bored because you weren't the one physically fighting this time! Come on Hub, you know what it's like on this side of the screen. To fight is just so thrilling! It's a great way to get to know other navis and is just good exercise as well. And well, you know I wouldn't have been able to get this far without you. The operator is the one who keeps their eye on the larger picture. While I'm looking for an opening, you've got your eye out for anything which might be a danger to me. You're in charge of strategy and I just have to trust in your plans and the chips you give me. For now, You're the brains and I'm the brawn."

Hub smiled. It seemed like Lan had been doing a lot of thinking about this and new exactly what to say to make him feel better. "I think it would surprise people to learn that we work better the other way around. I'm the brawn and you're the brains."

Megaman shrugged with a rare shy smile on his face. "Well... it's good to try new things, right?"

* * *

Hub's heart was thudding hard in his chest. He stepped onto the stage, looking forward to the next competition. He was ready and Megaman was almost dancing with excitement.

"Ready for the final round! Two kids who have been undefeated throughout this competition now take the stage! Hub Hikari and Eugene Chaud!"

Hub's heart almost stopped as the crowd roared. It was louder than it had ever seemed on the net. When he got home, he was going to beg his father for some time on the net to relax.

"Ready?" he asked Megaman.

"Ready!" Megaman responded, practically jumping over to the battle dome.

Hub looked up at his opponent. And froze.

The small amount of black hair topped with fluffy white. The camo pants, black long sleeved shirt and sleeveless red jacket. The glare which was being sent his way. Hub knew them all. But this was the first time he had faced them.

"Oh no," he whispered.

"What?" Megaman questioned, looking around. "Is he really scary looking or something?"

"Or something," Hub said, pulling out a chip and slotting it in. "Area steal!"

Megaman moved and not a moment too soon. A bright blade came jabbing through where he had been standing.

Megaman recognised the red navi in the helmet and visor, long white hair flowing in a trail in the air behind him.

Blues huffed in annoyance and sliced his blade through the air as he stood to attention.

"Nice dodge," he commented.

"Uh... thanks?" Megaman responded with a panicked glance at Hub.

Hub was looking at Eugene Chaud or, as he had known him, Enzan Ijuin.

"Look, Enzan-!" he called out.

"Shut up and fight," Enzan said in a hard voice.

"Oh boy, he sounds mad."

"No kidding," Megaman sighed. "What's up with him?"

Hub flinched as Blues moved and just barely managed to slot in a barrier chip in time. Megaman focused back on his opponent as the barrier shattered. He ducked to the side and fired off a couple of shots and then a cannon Hub sent him.

"Can you blame us?" Blues huffed. The swordsman cut right through the cannon shot!

"We're doomed," Megaman said.

"Don't give up!" Hub said, pulling out more chips. "They want a fight? We'll fight!"

Megaman took a deep breath. "Got it!"

The resulting fight was the hardest thing he had done. Megaman wasn't as fast as Rockman and ended up catching the edge of Blues' blade multiple times. Data leaked out of his upper arm and lower leg. He got caught on the side, grabbing the cut in an attempt to keep the damage from getting worse.

He had barely landed a scratch on his opponent.

"You've gotten weaker," Blues said in a disappointed tone.

Did they think he was Hub? Megaman muttered a curse under his breath, hoping that his brother didn't hear. He would get it later for cursing, even if this situation called for it.

"I believe you might have mistaken me for someone else," he said calmly, even giving Blues a half-smile.

Blues didn't seem to believe him.

Hub tried. Looking right at Enzan, he calmly asked, "is there a reason you seem to be taking this fight personally?"

Enzan refused to look at him. "Sword, wide sword, long sword."

The data drained from both twins' faces at once as Blues announced the program advance 'dream sword'.

"It's known by another name here," Hub muttered under his breath. That gave him a crazy idea. "Barrier. Sword, wide sword, long sword."

"Fighting fire with fire?" Megaman said in disbelief as the data flowed through him. He was going to get deleted wasn't he? Well, at least he'd give Blues a fight in the last couple of moments.

"Let's go!" Megaman said, as a bubble appeared around him. "Life sword!"

The two swords clashed and, even though Megaman didn't have the power to back himself up yet, the barrier kept him standing. Megaman swung again, ducking out of the way of Blues' blade. In the end, he managed to put a scratch on his brother's long time rival. But he was done for. The world burst into data bits before going dark.

* * *

"Megaman!" Hub screamed as his brother dropped to the cold data ground. He quickly pulled him out of the battle dome and started applying healing chips.

"You've gotten weaker," Enzan said as the MC announced his victory. "Disappointing."

"You've mistaken me for someone else," Hub responded with angry certainty. While he knew that Enzan and Blues had held back a little, he didn't appreciate the anger the two were sending their way. "We've done nothing to hurt you."

"You didn't think people would come looking when you disappeared, Hikari?"

Honestly, no. That was why Rockman had… he hadn't left without saying goodbye to a certain someone. Maybe he should have taken the time to say goodbye to Blues as well but that was none of Enzan's business.

Hub told his opponent that it was a good match and turned on his heel to leave.

That's when he spotted Higure standing in the exit with a mic. Had he been the MC the whole time?

"Was this whole thing just a trap?" he questioned.

"Yes and no, huh," Higure said. "I really am expanding Higure-Ya over here. However, some nice people Enzan knows said that re-branding might be necessary, huh."

"I guess that kind of explains Higbys' Chip Shop. Maybe," Megaman mused.

Hub shushed his navi. He attempted to stare Higure down. "If you'll excuse me, I'm rather sore from my sudden loss. I would like to leave now."

In his PET, Megaman shook his head. His brother would phrase it in the most polite way. "Just tell him to get out of the way!"

Hub ignored Megaman's advice. Higure walked over, arm out.

"Can't do that, huh," he said. "Second place receives a prize as well, huh."

Hub's stomach sunk.

"It'll be fine. Go up there and then leave when they're busy with the crowds," Megaman suggested.

Hub stiffly nodded and allowed Higure to guide him back onto the stage. The prize was zenny, which would be good for replenishing his battle chip collection after all these battles. Megaman was happy about the prize, even if Enzan received more and a rare chip.

"Thank you," Hub said, making his way down off the stage.

"Hey, hold on!" Enzan said, grabbing his arm. Hub turned back and shot a glare at the other teenager. It only caused Enzan to hesitate for a moment before saying, "we're not done with you yet."

"That's what you've decided. Presentations are over, people are leaving and I'm meant to be home before five." Hub forcibly yanked his arm from Enzan. He saw the other's eyes widen in surprise at his strength before he bolted for the exit. He burst out of the hall and ran down the corridors.

A short girl with blond hair in two braids was running down the corridor right towards him!

"Netto?" she questioned, stopping. It was good that Yaito was so short.

Hub stuck close to the wall, jumped and kicked off the wall to get over her. "Sorry!" he called back because that was kind of rude.

Then he bumped into a big round thing. Instead of barreling through it, since it was obviously human, he let his body bounce back. Unfortunately, it lost balance and he dropped to the ground.

The round boy glared down at him. Dekao towered over Hub and Hub actually found him more intimidating than his navi, Gutsman.

"What do you know? Higure was right! Can't resist a netbattle can you, Netto?"

"My name's Hub." He stood up and dusted himself off. He looked up at the other boy. Dekao was just a head taller but much wider than he was. Still, he could take him.

"Hub! Mama has sent a message wanting to know why we're not home yet!" Megaman lied loudly.

"Right!" Hub said down at his PET. Then he looked at Dekao and the girl just behind him. "Let me through thanks. I need to get home."

"You're not going anywhere," Enzan said, coming up behind him with Yaito jogging to keep up behind him.

"Oh great," Megaman sighed heavily. "We're in trouble."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

* * *

Hub sat on a chair, Netto's old friends standing in front of him. Megaman was in the nearby computer, Rockman's friends surrounding him.

This was bad. There was a reason his father had relocated the family. It was so no one learnt what had happened to Netto.

"So, why'd you leave suddenly and without saying goodbye?" Yaito asked. She was standing in the middle, obviously in charge of questioning. Higure had shown them this back office and then left to 'man the store'.

"I'm telling you, you have the wrong person!" Hub insisted.

"I doubt it," Enzan complained. "One of your opponents called you 'Hikari'."

 _Mick_ , Hub thought in a grumble.

"And you're a perfect match for the person we're looking for."

Of course he was. Netto was his twin after all. It'd be strange if they didn't look alike.

"Rockman, are you going to explain?" Blues asked the orange and yellow navi.

"What's with the colours, guts?" Gutsman questioned.

"While slightly off topic, I am curious as well. I much preferred the blue look to this orange," Glyde commented.

Megaman was insulted. "What's wrong with my orange? I happen to like orange!"

Meiru looked between Hub and Megaman. She also noticed how Roll was acting. Or how she wasn't acting. She was keeping her distance and seemed almost wary of Megaman. Not at all how the navi would have acted around Rockman. Had they really changed that much in less than a year?

"What do you think, Roll?" Meiru questioned.

"I don't think you're Rockman," Roll said to Megaman sadly.

"That's because I'm not," Megaman responded. But he did soften and smile at her. "Sorry about that."

"It's okay," Roll said to him. "Because I think I know where he is. And I'm glad that he's okay."

Hub froze as Roll glanced over at him. His heart stopped in his chest as he tried to recall if he had taken off his helmet in her presence before.

…

...he had. More than once. Roll knew that he looked like Netto!

It seemed Megaman might have put the pieces together as well. He looked at Roll and then at Hub's panicked expression. His mouth slowly dropped as he realised;

"YOU TOLD HER?"

Hub actually flinched at the anger in his brother's voice. "I… uh…"

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU TOLD HER!"

"We… were dating at the time... "

"THAT'S NO EXCUSE!"

Roll put her hand on Megaman's shoulder and he huffed deep breaths, cheeks sporting spots of angry red.

"How long did you know?" he asked her.

"Probably about as long as you," Roll answered in a calming tone.

"What is going on?" Enzan questioned quietly.

"I can't believe he told you," Megaman muttered sulking. He glared at Hub. "You know, Papa's going to be really mad about this."

"More so than you?"

Megaman thought about that. "I have no idea actually. I mean, he did move us so that people wouldn't find out."

"Find out what?" Enzan demanded to know. "Blues."

Blues' arm turned into a blade and he pointed it at the back of Megaman's neck. "Answer the question or risk deletion."

Megaman threw his hands up and shook them. "Ohh, so scary," he said in a light tone.

Roll giggled. Hub slapped his palm to his face. He couldn't watch this; his brother was an idiot sometimes.

"Please don't delete my... navi," Hub sighed. "I know he's a little... brash at times but he can't be recovered from back up data."

"Like Rockman," Meiru realised. Hub nodded to tell her she was right.

"What am I allowed to tell?" Megaman asked Hub.

"I have no idea," Hub responded with a shrug.

Megaman's shoulders slumped. "Seriously? This is supposed to be right up your alley. Like, you know all the rules."

"I'm guessing we're not supposed to tell anything? The rule is nothing more than, 'don't tell'."

Megaman threw his hands in the air. "Hub, you already broke that rule! You told Roll!"

"When did you meet Roll anyway?" Dekao questioned. He frowned at Meiru like a kicked puppy. "When did you meet this guy anyway?"

"You don't think I'm Netto?" Hub asked him, curiously.

"Not anymore. Besides, how can a human date a navi?"

Hub's face went pink with embarrassment. He had let that slip, hadn't he?

He could see the others puzzling it all out without being able to figure it out.

"He's Rockman," Roll said.

The room was silent. Hub's mouth dropped open.

"Roll!"

"Isn't this helpful?" she asked with an innocent expression.

Hub flinched as everyone looked at him.

"You're Rockman?" Dekao questioned with a finger jabbed in his direction.

Hub nodded.

"Netto's navi Rockman?" Enzan questioned. He looked thoughtful. "That's not possible."

"Copyroid," Hub sighed, pointing at himself. "Personalised for me so that it displays this appearance whenever it senses the Rockman executable file."

"It's a lot simpler than taking all this off in the copyroid and having to put it back on when we're on the net," Megaman added helpfully.

"Okay," Enzan said slowly. "So, you're Rockman."

Hub sighed. "That's correct."

"Explains why you're terrible at operating."

"Hey! Hub is a fine operator! He's still learning and you're just a perfectionist!"

"So, Dr Hikari is trying to assimilate you to life off the net?" Enzan mused, mostly to himself. "Makes sense that he'd move to a new environment for such testing in an attempt to keep the variables as fair as possible. In any experiment, having people who knew you as a navi would affect the outcome."

"He even designed a navi for you," Dekao huffed.

"Jealous?" Yaito questioned Dekao with a grin. They all had a feeling Gutsman would lose to Megaman in a one-on-one battle since he had managed rather well against Blues.

Hub breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed they had gotten the wrong idea. Except, Roll frowned at him from the computer. He ignored it. She had probably figured out Megaman's secret since she knew about Saito.

"I'll have to let Papa know that you've found us and let him decide what comes next," Hub said, standing up. He grabbed his PET, taking Megaman back from the computer network and moved towards the door. Dekao and Meiru stepped to the side.

Hub glanced back when he reached the door and then smiled. "It was nice seeing you all again. Goodbye."

* * *

Megaman was frowning the whole way home. He shouted out constantly at Hub. He reminded his brother that, all things aside, they had come second in the competition. That he was still angry about Rockman having shared secrets with Roll. That he was certain Papa wouldn't be mad that they got busted. That it was interesting how Enzan had gotten the wrong idea.

By the time Hub reached the front door, he was a little calmer. The constant hum of his brother's voice had kept his mind off things and was mostly positive.

* * *

Lan poked his face into Hub's field of vision. Hub sighed and put down his pencil.

"What is it?"

"You told Roll everything?" Lan asked. Megaman had jumped into his own copyroid and was now running around as the person their friends were trying to track down.

"Yes. Can't this wait? We've had this conversation already and I'm working on my homework. Don't you have homework from that online school?"

"Finished it," Lan responded with a shrug. "Or most of it. It's not due for another two days."

Hub gave his brother a flat stare. Sure, Lan would probably get it all done, but he would ignore a sleep cycle to do it. "Don't you dare drain the PET battery again."

"I won't."

"Or the copyroid battery. Not that I care too much about that. But your whining while it charges is annoying."

"Hub," Lan whined. "Don't be so mean." He grinned. "Besides, you've been working on that same question for ten minutes now."

Hub looked where Lan was pointing and sighed. There was a dot where he had been pressing the pencil but nothing else.

"It just doesn't make sense, that's all."

"'If a box holds eight apples and there are forty-five, how many boxes will be needed?'" Lan smiled and tried not to laugh. It was the kind of question Hub should have been able to do in his sleep. "Hub, what's 45 divided by 8?"

"5 point 625," Hub responded accurately, since his brain was a computer.

"And if you can't have point 625 of a box?"

"Then you round up to…" Hub scribbled down the answer, Lan snickering beside him. "Shut up!"

"See? You're not doing homework. You're staring at homework. Sometimes it's better to leave these things alone for a while." With that said, Lan grabbed the book in front of Hub and ran to their room.

"LAN!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

* * *

Hub bolted up the stairs and grabbed his brother around his waist. "Give me my homework back!" he shouted into Lan's ear.

Lan stumbled back a step, pressing against Hub. "Nah. I think I'm going to toss it out the window."

Hub tried to grab it but Lan twisted out of the way and out of his grip.

"Mine!" Hub said, jumping for it. Lan moved it out of the way quickly and clutched it to his chest.

"Is this a bad time?" a feminine voice said. Both boys paused and turned to the computer screen.

"Roll!" they said in unison; Lan in a surprised voice and Hub in a happy one.

The pink navi smiled with her hands behind her back. "Hi Netto," she said to Lan. "Do you think Rockman could talk to me for a minute?"

"You're not going to tell Meiru about me, are you?"

"That you're Megaman?" Roll questioned. She was clever and had been able to put things together from the limited information she had. "No. But, you might want to tell her soon. I'd also like to ask what happened to you but if you don't want to tell me, that's fine."

"No. I can tell you," Lan responded. "Since Rockman already told you everything."

Hub smiled at his brother and sat down in front of his computer. He opened the connection between the copyroid and his PET and then jumped over to the computer. The world danced in data and lights while he guided himself on feel and sense alone.

Then pink filled his vision and hands wrapped around to his back.

"Rockman!" Roll cried out happily, hugging him tight.

Roll was hugging him! Rockman slowly brought his own arms up to return the hug. It was warm and something he had missed during their time apart.

"Roll…"

She rubbed her face against his neck. "I'm glad we were able to find you. I meant what I said when you told me, Saito. No matter where you are or who you are, I'm yours."

Rockman's eyes prickled. Nope, he wasn't going to cry here. "I missed you, Roll."

"Me too."

"Not that this isn't cute and all," Netto commented from the physical world, "but I believe we promised Roll answers, not hugs."

"Uh, right!" Rockman said, letting Roll go. "What did you want to know?"

"What happened with Netto?"

Both twins had the exact same reaction. The same slack expression and the same muttered 'ah'.

"I died."

Roll gasped. "How?"

"Same thing that killed Saito," Netto responded sadly. He remembered feeling lethargic and having a tight chest. He just thought he was nervous and tired. But he ended up in hospital with doctors telling him he had HBD. "I didn't survive the surgery to cure me."

"No." Roll covered her mouth and looked like she was about to cry.

Netto sat back and grinned. "It's fine, Roll! Papa did for me what he did for Saito! And I don't have to go to school anymore!"

Roll's green eyes fixed Rockman with an unimpressed look. Rockman was still Netto's netnavi and it was his job to make sure his operator was doing the right thing.

"Papa moved us so that no one would realise what he had done, not only once but twice. It ended up creating an opportunity for me to go to school as Hub, with Megaman as my netnavi, while Lan signed up for school online. We can't both go to school at the same time since netnavis are unofficially required for school."

"And Hub wouldn't have been comfortable with an off the shelf navi anyway." Netto grinned. "I'm the only navi he'll operate."

Rockman sighed but didn't argue. After all, Netto was right. There was no one he had a greater bond with than his brother.

"Do you have any questions, Roll?" Netto asked.

Roll shook her head. "No," she said.

"How much longer are you able to stay? I'm sure Rockman wouldn't mind hanging out with you during that time."

Rockman blushed. Roll took his hand and smiled at him. "I'm sure I can stay a little longer before Meiru needs me back."

* * *

Hub adjusted his backpack and reached for the roller-blade attachments clipped to the back.

"Hey!" Meiru called out.

"Oh, hello," Hub responded with a smile. Now that they knew who he was, he didn't worry too much about speaking with them.

A moment later, a heavy arm dropped onto his shoulders. "How's school?" Dekao demanded to know.

"Shouldn't you know the answer to that?" Hub countered. Meiru laughed and Dekao moved to punch Hub in the gut for embarrassing him.

Hub caught the punch in one hand.

"I think the better question is: what did Dr Hikari say?" Enzan said.

Hub blinked. Right, they had found out yesterday. Papa had been late getting home and by that point he and Lan had been in their room. He had been cuddling with Roll and Lan spent the time getting his homework done for his online classes…

"I FORGOT!" he gasped.

Megaman dissolved into hysterical laughter, ringing out from the PET. "I. Forgot. TOO!" he gasped out between laughs.

"Megaman! This isn't funny!" Hub complained to his navi.

"Are you kidding me? This is hilarious! After panicking over it, we forgot to tell Papa!"

Hub's face was hot with embarrassment. He sighed. "Sorry guys."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Meiru huffed, glaring at Hub. "I get that you're sorry but I want to see Netto again. Until you talk to your father, I doubt I'll ever see him!"

Right, Meiru could be scary when mad.

"Have some manners," Enzan said to her, "I'm certain he won't forget again."

"You could come round our place!" Megaman said. "Netto will be there!"

Hub was confused for a moment before recalling that Megaman would be able to jump into his copyroid back at their home. "Yeah!" That actually sounded like a good idea. "Come over!"

* * *

Hub unlocked the door to his home. Mama must have been out shopping for dinner.

"Come on in," he said, walking inside. "I'm just going to dump my bag in my room."

He could hear some of their conversation as he made his way up the stairs.

"It's strange. I have trouble remembering he's a navi at times," Meiru was saying to Yaito. Yaito agreed.

"And that he's Rockman. I mean, I can sort of see it but, it's still odd. He looks just like a human. I wonder if there's a market for chips which could make a navi more human-appearing?"

Hub smiled to himself as Meiru sighed. Yaito was already a scary-good businesswoman and wasn't even out of school yet.

Megaman jumped from the PET to his copyroid and stretched. Lan sat before him, grinning.

"So, should I go down and introduce myself?" he joked.

"Not too many details. Papa's already going to kill us," Hub responded.

Lan laughed and made his way down. Hub heard him call out, "hey everyone! Hub said you were here! What's up?"

Hub closed his eyes for a moment and enjoyed just being alone for a little bit.

* * *

Dr Hikari came home to find his two sons with Netto's old friends. Lan was chatting with Enzan and Laika at the dinning table while Hub was talking with Meiru in the kitchen. Yaito and Dekao had already left for the evening. Yaito had meetings to arrange and Dekao was bored since Lan said he wasn't able to Netbattle that evening.

Hub noticed him first, freezing with cookbook in hand.

"Papa! I-I..." he stammered.

Dr Hikari smiled at him, which made Hub worry even more. But, his father only placed a hand on his head and rubbed fondly.

"What do they know?" Dr Hikari asked with a smile.

"We know that you appear to be training Rockman to live in this world like us," Enzan said. "And that you probably moved to keep us from messing with the results of whatever hypothesis you created."

Dr Hikari paused for a moment before nodding. "Okay. What about Lan?"

"Lan?" Enzan was confused for a moment before recalling that Netto had been using that name. "Well, for some reason you're having Netto walk around with a changed name."

"Actually, Lan's my middle name," Lan chuckled. "Grandpa picked it! Just like he picked Hub's middle name, which is 'Hub' by the way."

"'Hub's middle name'?" Laika repeated. "But, if Hub is Rockman, how did Dr Tadashi Hikari know to pick a name for him?"

"What's your first name?" Meiru asked Hub. "Is it Rockman or something else?"

"Roll knows," Hub responded quickly.

"How much does Roll know, son?" Dr Hikari asked.

Hub's face went red again. "Um… I… you see…"

"Hub told Roll ev-ery-thing," Lan teased in a sing-song voice.

Dr Hikari was silent for a moment.

"Roll?" Meiru questioned her navi. "You know everything?"

"...Yes, including why Dr Hikari moved Netto and Sa- Hub here."

"Meiru. May I speak with Roll?" Dr Hikari asked, holding out his hand.

Meiru passed him her PET. "Don't hurt her." Hub stared at his father with a worried look.

"I won't," Dr Hikari said kindly as he took the PET outside.

Meiru glared at Hub. "So what exactly did you tell Roll?"

Hub took a step back. "I met with her secretly before we left." Enzan glared at Lan when the later let out an impressed whistle. "Papa was rather busy, too busy to notice that I disappeared for a little bit. Or maybe he thought I needed the time alone."

Meiru looked sad. "Leaving must have been hard on you," she said. "But at least you took the time to see Roll." She finished that sentence by glaring at Lan.

Lan winced and rubbed that back of his neck, laughing nervously.

Hub placed a hand on Meiru's shoulder, lightly so he didn't startle her.

"Don't blame Lan. There's no way he could have told you guys." There were tears in Hub's eyes and he sniffled at the end.

Everyone was silent.

"Oh for the love of," Lan grumbled. He grabbed the nearest thing nearby that wasn't a PET and chucked it at Hub, who caught it. "Cheer up. So we only had a short time before the move so Mama was getting everything ready and Papa was keeping a close eye on me, so what? We're all here now."

"And apparently you're throwing food like a child," Hub said to his brother, eyeing the biscuit. Then he ate it in one bite.

"No! That was mine!" Lan shouted, jumping to his feet and sending his chair to the floor.

Hub stuck out his tongue. "Then maybe you shouldn't have thrown it at me."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

* * *

Their friends left after dinner. Harkua enjoyed cooking for everyone and seeing her boys with their friends again. After everyone had left, Rockman spent some time on the net with Megaman beside him, although they were careful to stay away from anyone they knew.

Roll was waiting for him when he returned. She hugged him again.

"Papa didn't do anything, did he?" Rockman couldn't help asking.

Roll shook her head. "He just told me to not tell anyone, including Meiru. I did point out that Netto should tell Meiru but he said that it was Lan's choice."

The two navis glared at Megaman.

"Come on guys! How am I supposed to tell Meiru about this?" Megaman motioned at his yellow and orange navi suit. "How did you do it?"

Rockman shrugged. "I just did. Shortly after you found out. I thought Roll deserved to know, especially if we were going to continue being boyfriend and girlfriend."

Roll smiled and squeezed Rockman's hand.

Megaman sighed. "It's not that easy for me."

Rockman understood that they were in different situations. He had already been with Roll and spent a lot of time getting used to talking to her about anything and everything. Meanwhile Netto and Meiru were just friends and there were things that Netto preferred to share with Enzan or Laika.

"Tell her when you're ready. I don't think she'll mind as long as you're honest," Roll said soothingly. With her free hand, she reached out and took Megaman's. "It's kind of nice to be able to touch you both!" she chuckled.

Megaman smiled back, basking in the moment for a couple of seconds before pulling away and announcing that he would leave them to their 'couple time'.

"Don't go out to the net alone," Rockman warned.

"Fine!" Megaman grumbled back. "I'll just study instead! Since that's all you want me to do."

"Because chores and homework and really the only things I have to keep reminding you to do!" Rockman shouted back as Megaman was walking away. They were both smiling though, just trying to get the other riled up and knowing that the other was trying to do the same to them. It broke some of the heavy atmosphere that had been hanging around since the start of the conversation.

* * *

Hub yawned and then caught himself. It was only a couple of minutes until lunch. He could wait until them to nap.

Although, he was also hungry.

"Ugh, more sums?" he questioned when he finished one page to find another waiting on the other side.

"Hey, you're the one who wanted to go to school," Megaman said. "Come on, Hub, see how many you can get done before that bell rings. I'm sure you can finish almost all of them."

"You think too highly of my abilities," Hub responded with a sigh. However, he did have a computer for a head so it wasn't too hard. It was just showing the working that took time.

"Pst! Hub!"

Hub looked up, trying to figure out who spoke. He spotted the speaker a moment later. It had been Tab. The bell went a moment later so they were free to talk.

"What's wrong?"

Tab huffed and placed his hands on his hips, glasses reflecting the light and making him look seriously. "Who says that something has to be wrong?"

"He wants to know what the prize was for Higsby's competition. A lot of people were talking about that final battle," Mick said.

Tab nodded. "Do you really know Eugene Chaud?"

"Eugene?"

"The guy with the two-tone hair," Mick explained. "Wiped the floor with you and Megaman."

"Hey! We put up a fight!" Hub reminded him. "And we beat you easily enough!"

Megaman chuckled. Fighting was one of the few things which could get Hub this fired up.

Mick stood up and looked Hub right in the eye. "We put up a fight too! If it wasn't for my useless navi, we would have won!"

Tab coughed and pushed himself between them. He had more important things to talk about than their egos. "Do you know Eugene Chaud? He's a newcomer to tournaments but he's won every one. No one's been able to lay a hand on him."

"He's been in tournaments overseas," Hub informed them. "That's how he's so good."

"And you managed to hit him?" Mick questioned. "That's some dumb luck!"

Tab didn't look so sure. "You transferred from overseas too, didn't you? All I'm after is getting the Eugene Chaud into our store for a bit. He can just look at our wares if he doesn't want to battle or hold a signing session."

"Wow. Enzan's a big deal here," Megaman mused. "I guess it's because he was travelling around trying to find us."

"And he found us," Hub sighed back. He looked at Tab. "I guess I could ask."

Tab grabbed hand and shook on it with a wide grin. "Great! Thanks, Hub!"

* * *

Rockman materialised next to Megaman. The yellow-orange navi was ready to go.

"Who said you were coming along?" Rockman asked as they linked to Blues' PET.

"I invited myself," Megaman said. "Besides, Hub's navi should be there for this request, right?"

The wallpaper of the PET was the first to load, the ground rendering moments later. Blues was standing in the middle of the area, practising his sword swings.

"Hey!" Megaman called. His body stepped back instinctively, which saved his life as there was suddenly a sword where he had been standing a moment before. "Jumpy much?"

"Hi, Blues," Rockman said with a wave. He would have smiled but his heart was still racing from watching his brother almost get deleted.

"What do you two want?"

"Well-"

"One of Hub's friends wants Enzan to come to his shop!" Megaman said with a wide grin.

"Sort of. Apparently 'Eugene Chaud' has made a name for himself. It'd help Tab's shop if he made an appearance."

"Is the shop AsterLand?" Enzan asked, face appearing on a screen behind Blues. "It's the only other battle chip shop in the area."

"That's correct," Rockman responded.

"What does Dr Hikari think?"

"Huh?"

"Is this going to affect the experiment?"

It took Rockman a moment to remember that Enzan thought 'Hub' was an experiment being conducted by Dr Hikari.

"Papa said that 'whatever happens, happens,'" Megaman said.

Rockman nodded in agreement, even though that wasn't the full story. Dr Hikari decided to leave it to his sons to decide whether to tell their friends what had happened.

"He's decided to try and get his job back at SciLab and move us back by the end of the year." Shortly after what happened to Netto, Dr Hikari had reported what he did to the person at the top and took a suspension without a word, walking out. He had moved his family shortly after that to protect them.

"Are you going to continue school then?" Blues asked Rockman.

"Probably not," Rockman answered honestly. "Unless Mama makes me the way she did Netto."

Megaman huffed about that. Rockman probably would be able to get away with not continuing school.

"Netto does school online, right?" Enzan commented.

Rockman nodded. "He's actually doing quite well."

"That's surprising."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Megaman said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Enzan seemed surprised, like Megaman wasn't the one he expected that kind of reaction from.

"Nothing. Just that Netto wasn't the best at school."

"How would you know?" Megaman questioned. "You didn't go."

"I've already finished high school," Enzan informed the navi. A moment later his face was gone.

"Whatever," Megaman huffed.

"You really shouldn't agitate Enzan like that," Blues warned Megaman. "Especially when you cannot defeat me."

"I still got a hit in. And you can't blame me! I'm not used to being a navi."

"I'd imagine so," Blues said in a mysterious tone. Like he had guessed Megaman's circumstances. But that wasn't possible, right?

"Eh? You do?"

Blues nodded. "It stands to reason that a newly created navi wouldn't have the same skills as one who has been through numerous battles. I will say that you are skilled, although not as skilled as Rockman or I."

"I'm not that skilled without Netto," Rockman pointed out. A navi often needed their operator in order to draw out their true strength. Blues was an exception as Enzan had designed him to be able to fight alone.

"I would rather fight with Hub by my side," Megaman agreed with a smile in Rockman's direction. "He might not be used to operating but he does his best."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

* * *

Hub was surprised when Enzan's limo pulled up that morning and ordered him to get in.

"Are you going to take me to school?" Hub questioned as he took his bag off and slipped into the seat. He unclipped the roller blade attachments and hooked them onto his bag.

"Yes and no. I have some questions. You should get to school early enough to give me time to ask them."

Questions? "Sure. I can't promise to answer though."

"That's fine. Do you have Megaman on you?"

Hub nodded and pulled out his PET. Megaman appeared on the screen and frowned at Enzan.

"Are you really accepting a ride from this guy?" he questioned Hub.

Hub nodded, gripping the PET tighter as Enzan reached for it.

"I won't hurt him. Although you seem rather attached to him for someone who is also a navi."

"So? Friends are friends, no matter what form either of us might take."

Enzan hummed, as if he didn't really get it. Hub noticed Megaman's head droop a little. This didn't bode well. He had a feeling that when they move back, Megaman was just going to go back to being Netto and forget about all the navi things he could do.

Hub didn't know how to feel about that. The switching of the past couple of months had been really fun. They had both been able to try new things.

"Megaman, was it?" Megaman nodded at Enzan. "Why did Dr Hikari create you?"

Did Enzan know? Or was he just gathering information? Neither twin knew.

He didn't really know how to answer but he decided to go with the first thing which came to mind. "For school," he finally said. "Dr Hikari thought that Hub might need a navi for school."

"So he created you? A rather strange choice," Enzan mused.

Megaman laughed nervously. "Yeah. I guess so. I'm not questioning it though, I like existing."

Enzan stared at the orange navi. Megaman glared back, locking them in a staring contest.

"Do you have any other questions for us?" Hub asked, trying to divert attention from his brother.

"Yeah. Where's Netto?"

"Huh?"

"Netto. Where is he? Does he just stay at home all day?" No wonder Enzan had offered to give him a lift. He was taking advantage of Hub's inability to escape in order to ask the difficult questions. Hub wondered if he could just jump from the car, despite the physical damage such a stunt would cause.

Hub looked down at his navi. Megaman had a strange expression on his face. Something annoyed and frustrated with the spark of a crazy idea behind it.

"I'm here," he said. Enzan ignored the navi. "Enzan! I'm here!"

Enzan blinked down at the navi, uncertain of what it meant. Hub watched, holding his breath and internally screaming at his capricious brother who lied only to tell the truth a moment later. Enzan's eyes narrowed in thought.

Slowly, realisation dawned. Enzan's eyes widened.

"Netto?" he questioned in a quiet voice.

"Hi Enzan," Netto responded in a fake happy tone, waving.

"Enzan looked between Hub and Megaman.

"Was Netto always a navi?" he asked Hub flatly.

"No," Hub answered. "Papa made Netto into a navi in order to save his life."

"To... what? What happened?"

The navi in the PET was silent.

"This is what Roll knew, isn't it?" Blues asked the silent orange navi.

"Roll could guess, because she knew about me," Hub informed him. He explained about how he was Netto's twin and about their father's research which had been used to save him and then Netto years later.

The limo pulled up while Hub was talking. Once he was done, he left a shell-shocked Enzan and walked into the school.

"Do you think he's okay with it?" Megaman asked worriedly.

"It's Enzan," Hub responded hopefully. "He always finds a way to roll with new information. Plus, Blues won't let him say anything stupid." Hub would hurt them both if they did anything.

Megaman didn't seem too impressed with that. However, maybe sensing Hub's protectiveness, he did brighten up a little.

* * *

The limo was back. Hub caught a worried expression on Megaman's face and decided to ignore the vehicle waiting for him. Even when it slowly began to roll along behind him, he ignored it. Mick laughed when he caught on. Tab looked worried.

"Isn't that important?" he asked.

"Nope," Hub responded, head held high and pace not faltering.

The window wound down. Enzan glared out at him. Megaman, initially worried about his strong-willed brother, started snickering at the expression on Enzan's face.

Tab gasped, stopping in his tracks and falling behind.

Mick eyed Enzan warily. "Hey... you're that Netbattler Chaud, aren't you?"

"He is," Hub responded, having a feeling he knew what would happen next. Indeed, Mick started talking about how he could fight Chaud, that it might be a welcome challenge for him.

"If you can't beat Hub, then you're no match for me," Enzan responded matter-of-factly.

Mick huffed. "Whatever, Egghead. Why don't you get out of that limo and walk like the rest of us?"

Enzan did just that, causing Hub to finally stop in his tracks. Tab emitted a high pitched squeak as Enzan stood before them.

"Don't look so shocked," Enzan said. He looked at Megaman, projected onto Hub's shoulder. "And you. We need to talk."

Hub actually wasn't sure if Enzan was talking to him or Megaman. Either way, he wasn't going to leave his brother alone.

"Then you'll have to walk home with us," Hub said, starting to walk away again.

"Um. Netbattler Chaud?" Tab said.

Enzan cut him off. "You're Tab of AsterLand. Hub told me about your proposal."

"Okay. And?"

"I'll visit tomorrow. It will be informative to see a different battle chip shop."

"Thank you!" Tab cheered.

"Thank him when he actually turns up," Megaman grumpily said.

"It's a request from one of Blue's friends," Enzan said. "Of course I'll turn up."

Tab was confused. "I thought Hub's first name was Saito?" He has seen it written on the class list before Dr Hikari had requested the school change it.

"It is," Enzan said. "Hub is friends with Blues, who is my trusted adviser."

"Adviser? Not friend?" Megaman questioned with a teasing grin.

Enzan glared at the navi. "I thought we were talking when we reached your place."

Megaman glared and Hub sighed. Were these two going to fight right here and now?

"Enzan has a point," he said to his brother.

Megaman retreated to his PET to sulk.

* * *

When they arrived home, Hub directed Enzan to the dining room table and asked if he wanted anything to drink. Enzan declined, stating that he wanted to talk with Netto as soon as possible.

Hub took the PET upstairs and was surprised to find Enzan following him.

"What's wrong?"

"I want to see the process," Enzan said.

Hub pointed to the copyroid sitting in the corner. It was plugged into the wall, charging.

"Are you ready for this?" Hub asked Megaman.

"It's not like I have much of a choice." Megaman began the process of transferring himself over to the copyroid.

Lan's brown eyes opened a moment later, hands reaching up to disconnect the charging cables from the back of the bot.

Enzan wondered aloud, "why don't you resemble your navi form anymore?"

Lan explained about how the copyroid had been modified with his natural form. Enzan looked between them.

"And you're twins?"

They nodded in unison.

"But Saito died years ago and Netto…" he trailed off for a moment, frowning sadly.

"I died recently, yeah."

Enzan took a shuddering breath.

Blues voice rang out in the silence of the room. "Perhaps you should all take a seat."

Hub nodded. Enzan was looking past his brother and the twitching of his face said it all. It never really seemed like Enzan was hiding his emotions in the past, he always seemed to be in control. To see that control brake down hurt.

Although he wasn't quite certain what they had done, Hub knew they were the cause. The least he could do was take Blues' suggestion after hurting his operator.

"Let's go back to the table."

Lan stuck close to him, sending worried glances in Enzan's direction.

"What's wrong? What did we do?" he whispered.

"I don't know. I guess we have to ask," Hub said back. Lan looked down with a frown.

Enzan waited until they sat down. Then he said, "we didn't even know you were sick."

Lan looked at his hands, avoiding Enzan's gaze. "I didn't want anyone to know I was sick. It was hard enough watching Mama, Papa and Rockman deal with it. I didn't think I would be able to handle everyone else worrying over me."

"Of course we were worried!" Hub said. He grabbed at his shirt to keep from grabbing his brother. "Sure, there's a cure for HBD but it's still new. And the doctors kept saying that there was a chance you might not make it to surgery since you were diagnosed so late."

Enzan still couldn't believe they hadn't told him. "Did you tell anyone?"

Lan shook his head. "Even Hub didn't tell Roll until we were leaving."

"I only told her because I was breaking up with her," Hub pointed out, resting his arms and head on the table. "I didn't think I'd see her again."

"Especially since Papa was developing copyroid technology to house us and was thinking of sending us both to school. I'm so glad we managed to talk him out of that."

"You didn't tell us," Enzan repeated dully. "You vanished without a word and I don't know how to handle the news that we could have just as easily found your grave instead of you."

"You actually could have," Lan rambled before spotting Hub making a 'stop talking' gesture. Hub's ears went red as Enzan glared at him as well.

"Um... we had to do something with the body?" Hub offered to try and calm their friend down. Enzan's expression didn't change. "Do you want us to tell everyone?"

"It would be for the best," Blues said. "Although, you could leave out the parts about Netto dying."

"No. It'll get too complex. Tell them the whole truth." Enzan looked Lan up and down. "Then you won't have to hide anything about yourself."

Lan was uncertain about what he meant.

"Blues, do you think you could train Megaman for a while?" Enzan said. He looked at Hub. "We should probably improve Hub's operation skills as well since we're here."

Hub had a sinking feeling in his chest, despite how helpful battling against someone of Enzan's level would be.

"Of course, Enzan," Blues agreed. Hub would swear that the corner of his mouth twitched up a little bit and there was a glint of amusement hidden behind Blues' black lenses.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

* * *

"You're evil," Hub moaned. He had no trouble telling Enzan this to his face. It wasn't like Enzan was his friend. Hub's friend was Blues, who would overlook him insulting his operator. "I think if I ever see another battle chip again, it'll be too soon."

On the net, Megaman was lying on the ground in an equally pitiful state.

"I didn't know that data could hurt. Why does it feel like I took a tumble while skating?"

"Hmm, if it only hurts that much, then we've been going easy on you," Enzan commented.

Hub moaned and Megaman groaned.

"No more," Megaman huffed.

"I get it. We're horrible people for not sharing important news with you," Hub said. "Now stop the torture."

"Torture? This is training," Blues stated.

"Well, I call it grinding," Megaman said. "And I'm done with it." He disappeared from the net, the blank copyroid jolting into Lan's form a moment later.

"Escaping into the copyroid is cheating," Enzan said.

"That's only because Blues can't do it," Lan responded teasingly, even sticking out his tongue at the end. "We only have two copyroids and they're both in use."

"I'm going to go get homework done," Hub said, standing up. His body was stiff both from sitting on the chair for so long and also in an faint echo of his brother's pain. He could hear Lan chatting with Enzan as they went downstairs for food. Just like how it used to be, except there was no Blues next to him so they could share looks about how their operators were acting.

"Homework, huh?" Blues said, suddenly appearing on the computer screen.

Hub jumped. "Wha-What are you doing?"

"Enzan allowed me some freedom as he'll be busy for a while playing video games with Netto."

"Of course," Hub sighed.

"I find it interesting that you're doing homework. I train against viruses while Enzan does his and I believe everyone knows how Netto feels about his homework."

"That's for sure," Hub laughed. He looked at the question again, knowing that it probably wouldn't get done with Blues here. "Give me a moment." He plugged into the net.

Rockman appeared beside Blues with a smile on his face.

He pulled up his homework on the computer. Going over the questions with Blues, he was a little surprised that Blues actually seemed interested in watching him work through them.

* * *

"Are you going to tell everyone else?" Enzan asked before he left.

"It's not my place. This secret is more Lan's than mine," Hub said.

Lan rubbed at his arm as he thought. "I don't know," he finally admitted. "I think it might be better if it stays a secret. We'll be back in Akihara soon enough and things will go back to normal."

Enzan looked to Hub. "And you'll be okay with that?"

"I guess," Hub said with a shrug, "Why wouldn't I be?"

Enzan shook his head, muttering something about 'air-headed Hikaris'.

* * *

Rockman slipped out of the house network while Lan was working on his home-school projects. Roll has passed him her hotel room access key so he could visit. Yaito was treating everyone to dinner so the homepage was empty. The two navis cuddled together on the ground, enjoying each other's presence after months apart.

They missed the signs of another navi logging in.

"Saito," Blues said suddenly.

Rockman rocketed out of Roll's arms and onto his feet.

"Blues!" Then the name registered. "Did you just call me Saito?"

"Of course. It's part of your name."

Rockman didn't really like it. Was Blues trying to remind him that he was once human and didn't belong with them?

Roll gasped, grinning widely. "He knows?"

Rockman nodded and she clapped.

"I'm so glad you told someone else! I thought you would keep the secret until you burst!"

"That's not possible," Rockman pointed out. "Also, it's not an important secret. It doesn't hurt anyone to keep it secret."

"Not in your case," Blues was quick to agree. "However, your brother's case is different. He left people behind."

"Not that far behind. We're returning soon."

"Because we tracked you down."

"Yes."

"And if we hadn't, you wouldn't be coming back."

"I guess."

Blues huffed and crossed his arms. Rockman didn't get why he was he so frustrated.

"You do realise that the secret already affected people in your brother's life?" Blues said. "We're all here because our operators came searching. Do you really think Netto's friends are just going to forget that he left? Do you think they're not going to wonder why?"

"Can I at least tell Meiru?" Roll questioned innocently.

Rockman didn't know how to handle that. Was he supposed to apologise for somehow dragging them to this location? They decided to hunt Netto and him down on their own.

"No. I think it's none of their business. If Netto decides not to tell them, he could give the reason that we are moving for Papa's work."

"So you'll lie?" Roll questioned.

"It's a weak lie as well," Blues criticised. "What if Netto wants to spend time as Megaman? Or they wonder where your navi went?"

"Or why Hub and Lan and their navis aren't all in the same spot at the same time," Enzan added.

Rockman shook his head. "You're overthinking things guys. It's only obvious to you because you know."

Blues and Roll shared a look. Apparently they didn't think so.

* * *

Dr Hikari didn't immediately get his job back. However, moving back to their old home in Akihara was the first step. Being close by would make it easier to convince his old bosses that he was serious about this.

They took their old place off the market and moved back in. It was probably a good thing that such a high tech house didn't sell. It was a bit expensive for the area and those who could afford it tended to prefer living closer to Yaito's area than this one.

However, even though it was a three bedroom home, Dr Hikari originally had his office in the third bedroom. He wasn't willing to give it up. The solution was for the boys to share a room. Netto wasn't too happy about having to share a room with his brother but he liked the idea of a bunk bed at least.

"Aren't we a little old for this?" Saito questioned looking at the bunk beds.

"I get the top!" Netto announced, already making his way up.

"Doesn't he roll out of bed?"

"I'm sure it will be fine," Dr Hikari answered his eldest.

"We don't even need beds," Saito sighed.

Dr Hikari put a hand on Saito's shoulder. "Humour your old man, okay? Besides, I built a charger into the frame. You should be able to charge the copyroid by lying down in them. What is sleep for us should provide enough time for you to charge your batteries back up.

Saito looked at the beds in wonder. Now that he was paying attention, the frame the mattress was lying on did remind him of the data beds at Scilab.

"Cool," Netto hummed, lying down and enjoying the feeling of power flowing into him. "Thanks, Papa!"

* * *

It seemed that, other than the number of things needed for the Hikari twins doubling, little had changed. Saito's internal clock told him when it was time to get up. Even though Netto possessed the same function, it was disabled by Netto's own will.

"Netto!" he called up. The figure under the blankets didn't move. "NETTO!" He reached up and hit his brother.

Brown eyes opened and glared at him.

"Time for school," Saito reminded him.

"I hate this," he sighed. As Megaman, he hadn't had to activate until they were at school. So he could get extra rest while Saito got ready and made his way to school.

"Yeah well, you're the school kid now," Saito countered. He wandered over to the computer and paused. "If you don't get up soon, I won't go back into the PET and you'll be navi-less today."

Netto huffed and slowly climbed down. He glared at the empty copyroid and picked up his PET. Rockman smiled contentedly back at him.

"You're horrible," he complained before getting ready for school.

* * *

All of Netto's friends welcomed him back happily. It was like he had never been gone. In fact, it was almost like nothing had changed. Some evenings Rockman walked around as Saito but most nights he was comfortable just leaving the copyroid on its charging bed and just sleeping in the net. Dr Hikari was busy proving his worth after convincing his boss to take him back on so they rarely saw him.

Netto spent less time as Megaman as afternoons were lost of hanging out with friends, netbattling with Rockman and the dreaded homework. He just didn't feel like exploring the net when there was a rest cycle to be had.

Things were fine so Rockman didn't understand why Roll looked a little down whenever he told her he had spent the whole day in the digital world. Blues was a little pensive as well and would often bring messages from Enzan asking whether Netto had spent time on the net.

Neither twin really got why they were asking. However, it did give Netto a fun idea.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes:** Just a fun little chapter I felt like adding in.

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

* * *

Switching places for the day. It sounded like a fun idea but what if someone realised? At least Saito was off to a good start at pretending to be Netto. Because of how long it took for his brother to convince him to try it, Saito was late. When he opened the door, he felt every set of eyes turn to look at him. Was it over? Had he already blown it?

"Netto," Mariko Sensei started to say. She drew out his brother's name in a frustrated sigh.

Saito grinned. So he hadn't blow it!

"I'm late, I know!" he said. "Sorry!"

Mariko just pointed to Netto's desk and told him to take his seat so she could continue.

With a sheepish grin, Saito slumped into his brother's seat and started looking through his bag for the PET. And looking. And looking.

He knew Megaman was lounging around in the homepage at home but Saito was sure he had packed his PET so that he could call his twin if needed! He dug around in the bag.

"Netto!" Mariko Sensei called out.

Saito jumped. "Y-Yes?"

"What is wrong?"

"I... I seem to have forgotten my PET," he stammered.

A couple of the students laughed, including Dekao. Saito slumped a little in his seat. How did Netto make it through the day here? It had barely been ten minutes and already Saito's nerves were frayed and he was ready for to shutdown for the night.

"Rockman's going to be so mad at you," Meiru whispered over at him, passing him a some paper to work on.

Saito thought about Megaman, probably watching the latest idol videos or something.

"He might not have noticed," he said.

Meiru was unimpressed. "He'll notice. How could you forget him?"

"It was a tough morning. We were fighting," Saito responded.

"About what?"

About whether it was a good idea to try trading places just once. "Nothing really."

* * *

The bell rang and Saito sighed and dropped his head into his arms. He was going to nap for a while and then never wake up.

"Netto!" Meiru hissed. "Netto!"

Someone was shoving him. Oh great. Since Netto wasn't waking up, Saito would have to wake him.

It was about then that Saito realised Meiru was talking to him. He was Netto for today. He opened his eyes.

"It's time for class," Meiru said.

Saito looked at the front of the room, where Mariko Sensei was getting ready for the next lesson.

"Seriously?" he whined in Meiru's direction. It felt like he had gotten zero sleep. His stomach growled too.

The battery was running low. Which was strange, the copyroid should have been fully charged. Saito didn't use it enough for the battery to be drained.

Meiru shook her head with a fond smile. "Of course you're hungry."

Saito sighed. "Do you think that Mariko Sensei will notice if I eat in class?"

Meiru nodded. After all, Netto had tried that before and gotten caught.

Saito wondered if he could fake sick to get out of this. He figured something must have gone wrong with the charger and they didn't realise because his copyroid didn't see much use. Maybe he should spend more time in the physical world? But it was such a chore. The physical world didn't have links for quick travel and time just seemed to drag on.

Saito pulled the battery information multiple times during class. He felt increasingly uncomfortable as time passed and the percentage dropped more and more. Would it last? He wondered what would happen if he ran out. Papa hadn't let them use the copyroids when the battery was low, in case they ran out of power while Saito or Netto were using them.

"Netto, are you okay?" Meiru asked.

"Huh? I-I'm fine!" Saito responded, a little too loudly.

"You're breathing quite shallowly."

"Netto, are you sick?" Mariko Sensei asked, suddenly appearing between the two teenagers.

"I-" This was his chance to get out of here and charge! "I don't know. Maybe?"

Mariko placed the back of her hand on his head. "It does feel a little warm but that could be normal."

His body temperature was displaying as being within the normal range. It was only the battery causing alarm bells to go off in his head.

"I-I might just leave," Saito said. "Better safe than sorry."

Mariko Sensei eyed him suspiciously but let him go. Perhaps Saito wasn't as good as playing Netto as he thought, if people thought he was sick. She sent him to the nurse's office.

Saito picked the bed with a power point underneath it. The moment the nurse stopped checking him over, he plugged in the portable charger he never left home without. Thank goodness for old habits from back when he was Hub.

Curling up with his back to the wall, he blindly opened the panel just below the base of his neck, and plugged in the cords. He curled on his side and pulled the bed sheet up to his chin, hopefully hiding the cords coming out of his back.

He sat there, drifting in thought as he charged and keeping an eye on the nurse in the room. If she came over, he would pull out the cords before she could see them.

* * *

Charging felt painstakingly slow. However, it only took an hour or so to get the battery up to a point where he would be comfortable until the end of the school day. Unplugging himself, he excused himself back to class. He was feeling fine now.

"Are you alright?" Meiru asked in concern.

Saito nodded and grinned. "I'm fine!"

"It was probably just a stomach ache from eating too much in the morning," Yaito said in a huff.

"Hey!" Saito countered. He wondered what she thought of his brother since she was saying things like that. Sure, Netto had a big appetite but he had an appreciation for good food.

Mariko Sensei called them to attention and work started again. Saito focused on work, glad to be out of the spotlight for a little bit.

* * *

After school, there was a familiar white haired figure standing by the gate.

"Enzan?" Saito questioned.

"Netto," Enzan greeted before grabbing his arm in a tight grip. "I need to go to SciLab and you're my ticket in."

"Seriously?" Saito said dryly. "I need to go home. I forgot my PET this morning."

"Call Rockman when we get to SciLab."

"Can I come?" Meiru asked.

Enzan agreed as it made it easier to keep Saito from running away.

Saito sat between them in the car and led them up to his father's office with a sinking heart. The person behind the desk didn't question him and gladly let 'Netto' and his friends up into the lab.

This had been a terrible idea. A horrible idea. Saito couldn't possibly fool their father, could he? But... he had fooled everyone else so far.

"Is there a problem Netto?" Enzan asked and Saito realised he had been hovering by the door.

"Netto?" His father must have heard them and decided to poke his head out the door. "And Enzan and Meiru as well. What brings you all to my office today?"

Saito breathed a sigh of relief. Somehow, their father had been fooled as well.

"Netto?" Dr Hikari called to Saito. "Could you bring Rockman here? I have something I want to try."

"Sorry, can't. I left my PET at home," Saito responded with a laugh.

"That's okay. I can call and get your mother to bring it," Dr Hikari said with a self satisfied nod to himself. He picked up the phone and made the call. There was silence as Haruka went up to the boys' room to get the PET. Saito could guess that she would see Megaman in the computer, slacking off or something.

Dr Hikari's eyes widened. He looked at Saito and didn't look away as he asked, "are you sure?"

Meiru could sense something was wrong.

"What's going on?" she asked. "Has something happened to Rockman?"

Dr Hikari silently hung up. "Meiru, Enzan would you mind leaving for a moment? There's something I need to talk to my son about."

Busted. Saito grinned and tried to make himself small.

"What's happened?" Meiru questioned.

"My wife happened to find… Netto in his room. Saito, care to explain?"

"Ah, not really." Saito laughed nervously.

"Wait. Wait. What?" Meiru gasped, stepping away from Saito.

Saito pulled the bandanna from his hair and ran his hand through to neaten it up. "To be fair, you didn't notice Papa."

"Maybe because I didn't expect you two to think of something like this," Dr Hikari sighed.

"Really? They are troublemakers," Blues commented.

"You're Rockman?" Meiru questioned.

Saito nodded. " _Saito Hub Hikari_ is what I'm going by," he said, recalling that she might not have heard his name before. "Also known as Rockman."

Meiru glared at her PET as Roll giggled.

"You agree with Blues, don't you?"

"Well, they do look uncannily alike. We really should have expected this!" she giggled.

Meiru was silent for a moment before sighing. "True. I bet this was Netto's idea."

"It was," Saito confirmed.

"I can't believe you agreed to it," Enzan said.

"Saito can be a little bit of a troublemaker. Remind me to tell you some of the things he did when Rockman was first created," Dr Hikari said.

Roll threw her hand up. "Oh! I want to hear!"

"Papa, no!"


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

* * *

After mentioning the charging issue, Rockman left the copyroid with his father and made his way home over the net. Roll walked beside him, giggling a little as she thought about a younger and smaller Rockman.

"It's not that strange," Rockman sighed. She apparently thought he would have been 'cute'.

"Yes, it is," Blues commented from his other side. "There aren't many navis who grow as time passes. Usually it takes our operators going in and reprogramming our appearance for us to change."

"I'm aware," Rockman said. He was very aware and rather lucky that no one noticed his growth. Roll often went through height alterations as Meiru liked the idea of Roll growing with her, adding centimeters she gained to Roll's height as well. Blues was half a head taller than him and Rockman wondered if Enzan added to Blues' height whenever he noticed Rockman getting taller. It made it difficult for anyone to tell that he was growing since his comparative height wasn't changing. "It's just a thing that happens."

"A very human thing, Saito."

The name felt like a stab to his chest. Rockman's hand brushed against his navi icon as he sought some kind of comfort.

"Blues!" Roll huffed angrily, stepping in the path of the red navi. "That's was uncalled for!"

"What?"

"Rockman is Rockman. He's a navi like you and I and you better accept that!"

"Roll, he doesn't have to-" Rockman started to say, his voice small.

"I know that. He wouldn't be able to netbattle if he wasn't."

"Then what's with the 'Saito' and commenting on Rockman's 'human-ness'?"

"That's not a word," Rockman sighed.

"Because he shouldn't forget where he comes from and that there's a whole other world he's able to explore. Unlike us, Saito can walk outside of the digital world and interact with his operator in a way we can't."

"Copyroids might be available to the public one day," Rockman pointed out, feeling a little humbled. It sounded like Blues admired him but he hadn't done anything worth admiring.

Blues just frowned at him and shook his head.

"I'm sure Enzan could probably get one since he pretty much runs his father's company!" Rockman pointed out.

Blues stopped walking and stared at Rockman. A couple of moments passed before he said, "Today was the first time I'd seen you as Saito since you and Netto returned and you wasted it pretending to be your brother. Maybe you should consider the physical world like another server to explore. Spend some time out there."

"Why?" Rockman asked. Did Blues believe it was simple out there? The colours were duller and there were no viruses to bust. "I'm happy here."

"Not all the time." Blues' words were blunt. He intended to hurt as dancing around the issue wasn't getting him anywhere. "Have you and Netto spent much time together in either world?"

Rockman stood still as he processed Blues' words. There were reasons that he and Netto has just resorted to the status quo.

"Blues," Roll said softly. "This is probably something he needs to talk to his brother about."

"Netto wants to pretend nothing has changed," Rockman said. "And so do I."

His friends turned away from each other to stare at him. Blues' shoulders tensed and Roll's mouth dropped open. They were surprised that he admitted it.

"When Netto was hospitalised, I think we both believed he would be fine. That the surgery would go without a hitch and that everything would return to normal. But, it didn't. What followed was..." Rockman let his voice trail off, caught up in the tightness of his data and the flashes of scenes he had experienced.

Mama, crying while trying to pack boxes of the essentials. They weren't taking much.

Papa, eyes red from lack of sleep but still working on the robot components of a copyroid for Megaman.

Netto, adjusting to being Megaman and to being made of programming rather than flesh and blood. He had been disoriented for days. Learning how to process all the subroutines, automatic and manual. It was a lot different to being a human.

Rockman had spent those days trying not to show fluctuations in emotion. He smiled at people because he had to be everyone's rock and kept his tears hidden for another day. He was supposed to be the stable one, the one who wasn't as affected by everything.

But it was weird. In the beginning, before he learnt to ignore it, Netto would be up at their internal alarm. Rockman didn't have to look after his brother as much. And then he was the one being looked after as Hub.

It had been easy to slip into that routine, just with roles reversed.

Now back, it had been even easier to slip into old routines with their original roles.

* * *

Roll tried to apologise for Blues but Rockman wouldn't hear it. Blues was right. Maybe it would soon be time for him and Netto to try new things. To explore the new worlds opened up to them.

Maybe it was time to help Netto open up to his friends. But how could he convince Netto do that when he himself couldn't? He had only spoken about everything to Roll. Blues had managed to uncover a lot of it but not everything.

There must be somewhere he could go for advice.

"You could try Enzan," Roll commented hesitantly.

"Really? Why him?"

"Because Blues is the one who noticed. You want to explore the physical world with Netto, don't you?"

Rock thought about it. Standing by Netto's side as his brother was something he dreamed about. But he had long ago accepted that it wasn't possible. They were in different worlds.

But, that wasn't true anymore, was it?

Rock's head was beginning to hurt. Maybe he should seek out more advice.

"Since Blues noticed, maybe Enzan has noticed something as well."

"I guess," Rockman hummed. But the question was, did he go this way or in a copyroid?

* * *

Papa brought Rockman's copyroid back with him that night. Netto would be fine without him for a couple of hours at school while Rockman took the copyroid out for a spin. Although Netto was surprised that Rockman seemed to have plans. Rockman went with Netto to school, greeted the other navis with a smile and then used the link from Netto's desk to return home. After uploading himself to the copyroid, Saito grabbed some clothes for the day, a bag and made his way towards Enzan's house.

The place was huge. Almost as big as a plaza on the net. Blues let Saito in at the large white, pointy gates and Saito trudged his way up the long driveway. Stones crunched under his feet and it took over five minutes to make his way to the front door. He really wished the physical world would put in links or alternative pathways.

"This place sucks," he muttered to himself as he pressed the doorbell.

"Well, sorry about that. Most people arrive by car." Enzan's clipped voice came through the intercom above the doorbell.

Saito glared at the little box. "I'm not old enough for a license."

"Haven't you raced in net races before? Can't you drive?"

"Being able to drive and being allowed to drive are two different things. No one cares about whether a netnavi's old enough to do things."

Enzan was silent for a moment. "Don't tell Netto that."

"Actually, maybe he should," Blues countered.

"Blues?" Enzan sounded confused.

"I came to talk to Enzan about that," Saito said.

"I see you came in the copyroid," Blues said approvingly.

Saito felt his face heat up. Sure, he had chosen to do this but it was a little embarrassing to be called out on it. Enzan looked between his navi and Saito, perhaps sensing that something important was going on.

"Come in," he said, letting Saito into his house. "We can talk in my office."

Saito followed Enzan down the hall and into his office. There was a large window on the back wall, bookshelves right along the others and a desk in the middle.

"Wow," Saito commented as he looked around. "This place is amazing."

"Thanks," Enzan said, giving him a strange look. "You know, out of the corner of my eye, you almost seem just like Netto. Yet right now, you are different to Netto. I find it strange."

Anger flashed across Saito's face. Strange, was he?

"Enzan is not insulting you, Saito," Blues said from the computer on the table. "He's just attempting to connect with you."

"Oh!" Saito got it now. He smiled at Enzan. "I'd like to be friends too."

Enzan huffed. "That's not what I meant at all," he said to Blues. Blues didn't react as he knew that Enzan was just covering up his true feelings. "But since you want to be friends, I guess we can."

"What brought you here today?" Blues asked.

"I wanted advice."

Enzan nodded and motioned for him to take one of the seats across from the desk. Saito sat down and Enzan did the same on the other side.

"What advice were you looking for?"

"Do you think Netto should tell Meiru about what happened?"

"About his death and becoming Megaman?" Enzan thought about it. He mused, almost to himself, about how it was a painful thing to hear, about how the technology which saved them both shouldn't be public knowledge and about how useless he felt when he heard that Netto went through all that without him knowing. It would be worse for Meiru since they were childhood friends. Plus there were the feelings of attraction she held towards him which would make those feelings strong. Even so, "I think she should know."

"Why? You said the public shouldn't know about us."

"The public. Meiru is more than just 'the public' to you and Netto though. Perhaps Netto should show her that."'

"I think he's afraid to." Even Blues seemed surprised by that. Netto? Afraid? Saito had to explain. "I think he believes she's going to see him differently and that it might lead to her rejecting him. It's easier for things to stay the way they are than to change them."

Blues wanted to comment but he held back. That Saito was here said he had been thinking about his words the other day.

"Saito, let me ask you. Do you think Meiru should be told?"

Saito nodded as it was his first response to the question. He thought about it and realised that, while he didn't want all of Netto's friends to know, he believed Meiru needed to know.

It would be good if Roll didn't have to worry about hiding things from her operator as well.

"Then you have your answer," Enzan said.

Saito stared at him and groaned. "Come on! Even if I agree she needs to know that doesn't help me figure out how to get him to tell her!"

Enzan looked surprised at the outburst. Was it because it didn't seem like a Rockman thing or because it was different to how Netto would react?

"Okay. I'm not really able to help there. I thought you would have some idea of how to convince Netto. After all, he's your little brother."

"That doesn't mean I know how he thinks. I don't know how he comes up with half the strategies he does," Saito commented. He frowned at Enzan's surprise. Maybe it was because Netto and Rockman fought in sync so it seemed like they understood each other's every thought. In reality, Rockman just followed Netto's plans and directions because he trusted his operator. He knew Netto's plans would work, even if he didn't know how or why.

"Have you tried talking to Netto about it?" Blues suggested. "Maybe he has his reasons for not telling her?"

"No."

Enzan sighed. It would have been the first thing he would try and he didn't even have a sibling. "Maybe you should."

"But..." Saito's voice trailed off and it seemed he wasn't able to come up with a good counter. "I guess I'll try it."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

* * *

It all went wrong. Saito wasn't sure what had happened. He had tried to ask Netto about why he didn't want to talk to his friends about being a netnavi. First, Netto laughed and made up some excuses like there was no reason they needed to know and how everything was fine so why upset everyone? Saito pointed out that it had been pretty upsetting to have his copyroid battery drain during class and it would have been nice to rely on someone. Saito didn't want Netto to experience that. That was a reason to tell them, right?

Apparently not. Netto had gone quiet and Saito had assumed that meant he was making progress. However, when he pushed, Netto started yelling at him. Saito couldn't recall all the things Netto said as most of it consisted of telling him that he didn't know anything, he didn't remember what it was like to be just human and to 'get out', which was difficult when they shared a room.

The door slammed behind Saito and the lock clicked into place. Uncertain of what to do, Saito stumbled down to where their mother was cooking in the kitchen.

"Mama," he said.

"Is something wrong?" Haruka asked her eldest son.

Saito looked back at the stairs and once again wondered what had gone wrong.

"Netto's locked himself in the room. All I wanted was for him to tell Meiru about what happened and why we had to leave."

Haruka sighed and pulled Saito close, stroking his back and hair. "You did what you thought was right. Now, let's give your brother time to calm down. He might be ready to talk at dinnertime."

Saito nodded. He sat on the couch and played video games. The empty space next to him where Netto would usually sit occupied his thoughts. Netto would make comment after comment, brightening up the game with his descriptions and jokes. The game was duller without them.

With a sigh, Saito dropped down to lie on the couch.

Why did Netto kick him out? They could have talked about it. He lost track of time as he lay there.

Dinner came and went. Netto didn't leave his room. Saito didn't move from the couch. Haruka quietly ate alone. The boys didn't need to eat so missing meals wasn't a problem. However, the computer was in their room. So were the charging beds. While a cord plugged into the wall worked for an emergency, it would take more than a night to charge the copyroid to full.

"Mama," Saito said in a worried tone, wringing his hands together.

Haruka went up and knocked but there was no answer. She tried again and this time there was a thud from inside serving as a sign of life but nothing else.

"Saito, you'll have to spend the night in another room," she said. She had seen Netto like this only once before. When his father had ended up in hospital, Netto had completely shut out the world. But he had kept Rockman close that time.

Saito used Papa's computer to get back into the net. The next day, he was going to go talk to Enzan since his advice was what started this. However, Mama stopped him before he could leave the house.

"Could you go to school in Netto's place? I already rung to inform them. Someone needs to get his homework and take notes for his classes."

"What?" Netto hadn't come down at all. "But-"

"Saito. Please," Haruka said. "Let's just give Netto some time."

Saito sighed. He thought he knew what was best for his operator but he trusted Mama.

"Okay, Mama."

* * *

Saito stood before the class. This time as himself.

"Netto Hikari is not feeling well today so his brother, Saito Hikari, is here in his place." Mariko Sensei gave him a worried look. "Will your own school work be okay?"

Saito nodded. "I go to school online. I'll be fine."

"What are you doing here?" Dekao demanded to know the moment Saito sat down.

"Weren't you listening? Netto isn't feeling well," Yaito huffed.

"Is he okay?" Meiru asked. "The last time he missed school without warning, he disappeared to another country."

That's because he had been sick and then died, Saito thought to himself. If Netto hadn't died, he would have come back to school with a story about being sick in hospital for a while. If he hadn't… Saito shook his head. There was no point wondering about 'what ifs'.

"Ouch!" A pencil hit the back of his head.

He glared back at Yaito.

"Meiru asked you a question," the little blond girl scolded him.

"Oh." He hadn't answered that, had he? "Yeah, Netto will be fine." It wasn't like he could die again. "He's just not well enough for school."

Saito blinked as he looked around to see people looking at him. "Um…" Immediately, questions were being through his and Meiru's way. Was he really Netto's twin? They looked so alike! Where did he go to school? Why hadn't they heard of him before now? How come Meiru knew who he was? And so on.

* * *

Saito dropped his chin to his desk, almost falling asleep. Class was boring. He wanted to be on the net, fighting viruses and hanging out with his friends. Anything but sitting here and taking notes for Netto's classes.

"I wonder if Mama is trying to punish me," he sighed to Meiru as the final bell of the day ended.

"It's the end of the day now," Meiru said. "So you can go home and stop complaining about how bored you are."

"I wasn't that bad," Saito muttered in an embarrassed tone.

"You said you were bored four times in the last half hour," Meiru pointed out.

"I have a running tally," Roll helpfully added, tally-marks appearing on the PET screen.

Saito stretched out over the desk. "But I am bored." Roll added another mark to the total. "There's nothing to do."

"The classwork maybe?"

"Come on Meiru," Yaito said. "He's a lost cause like Netto. It seems neither of them are made for the classroom."

"What would Tab and Mick think if they saw you like this?"

Saito stared at Meiru. She didn't really get the chance to know those two, did she? "Tab wouldn't care too much as long as we still hung out during breaks and Mick would celebrate my rebellion."

"Seriously?" Meiru huffed as her opinion of Mick went down.

"Mick only attends class out of respect for Mr Mach."

"If Netto's not here, I'm goin' home," Dekao announced, grabbing his bad.

Saito stood up with him. "I'm leaving too."

"Let's all go together!" Meiru announced. She gave Yaito a pleading look.

Yaito nodded and grabbed her bag. "Well," she said haughtily, "I guess the limo can wait. I'll walk some of the way with you."

* * *

Yaito walked with them until the turn off for Dekao's street. Then she jumped into a limo which seemed to appear from nowhere. It left Meiru and Saito alone in the street.

"Is Netto really sick?" Meiru questioned in a worried tone as they walked home.

Saito didn't want to answer that.

"Probably not," Roll muttered from her PET. "You said something to him didn't you?"

"Uh..." Saito stumbled. Of course Roll would figure it out.

"Let me guess, this is the result of Blues' advice."

Saito sighed. "Yeah."

"And that's why you think Mrs Hikari is punishing you."

Meiru looked from Roll, in her PET, to Saito standing just behind her. "What's going on?" she asked them both.

"I upset Netto," Saito admitted, feeling like there was a weight hanging off his shoulders. "I think I said something wrong but I have no idea what."

"Oh, so he's doing that sulking thing where he locks himself in his room?" Meiru questioned.

Saito was surprised that she had figured it out. "Yeah."

Meiru frowned, unimpressed. "I thought he grew out of doing things like that. It's a bad habit of his."

"I know." Netto liked to lock out the world when he was truly upset. However, that only made the people around him worry more.

"Did he do the same thing back when you guys moved for the copyroid experiment?" Meiru asked. "After all, I'm sure Netto stopped going to school first and then you moved later. I saw Mrs Hikari running around to get things ready but I didn't see Netto once."

"Something like that," Saito said nervously. He could feel the glare Roll was sending his way. However, he couldn't tell if it was because Roll thought he should tell Meiru or if she was telling him to be quiet and let Netto tell Meiru when he's ready. He played it safe and assumed she wanted him to stay quiet.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

* * *

Saito knocked the door the moment he was home.

"Netto? Come on, open the door."

Nothing.

"Move," Meiru said, almost shoving him out of the way. "Netto Hikari, whatever your stupid brother said to you-"

"Hey!" What was with the insult?

"-it's not worth locking yourself in here! Come out!"

Silence.

"Nice job, Meiru," Saito said sarcastically.

"Oh be quiet," Meiru responded, slapping him playfully on the arm. However, it was still with some force and Saito felt a pain response from it.

"Ow."

Haruka called the children down. "Thanks for trying Meiru but I don't think he's ready to leave yet."

"That's if he hasn't snuck out already," Saito commented, thinking about the computer in the room. It was likely.

"I can check?" Roll suggested.

"The computer is locked down. No navis going in or out," Haruka said. "Netto made sure of it."

Saito banged his head on the table. This was a mess.

"Now, maybe you should have a look at the homework Mariko Sensei gave you," Haruka said to her eldest.

Saito's eyes widened. "You've got to be joking."

"I don't think Saito should do Netto's homework," Meiru said quietly. "It's unfair."

"Oh, Saito doesn't need to do Netto's. He can do me a marking sheet so I can help Netto understand the work when the time comes."

"Huh?" Mama really was punishing him, wasn't she? She didn't need a sheet of answers to help Netto with his homework. Saito stared at the blank piece of paper she placed in front of him.

"Might as well get started," Haruka suggested as she walked back over to the kitchen to work on dinner.

"I could help?" Meiru suggested.

"Thanks. But I'll be fine," Saito said, opening his bag and pulling out the homework and a pencil. He wanted to hang out with Roll this afternoon but it looked like that wasn't going to happen.

* * *

That evening, Saito used his father's computer to get on the net as Rockman. Mama had been right, Netto's computer was locked. Rockman stared at the security cube and wondered what his chances of hacking his way in were.

His chances were low. Very low. Along with Rockman, Netto had helped their father improve the house's security system time and time again. Each time, Netto learned new things and tried other ideas he had. As a result, his ability to design a security cube and other computer security features was even above the average adult.

"There must be something I can do," Rockman sighed to himself. He wondered around the net, busting virus after virus as he tried to think.

Mama wouldn't be happy if he broke the door down. And climbing into the room wouldn't be good for the copyroid. Netto wasn't just going to come out. Meiru hadn't been able to get him out. Maybe one of his other friends?

It was around this time that Rockman noticed a familiar red navi in the distance. Blues was swinging his sword around and deleting multiple viruses at a time.

"Blues!" he called out, running over. He leapt over a sword swing and held his hands up to show he meant no harm.

"Saito?" Blues questioned when he finally registered his attacker. "What are you doing here?"

"Enzan's advice didn't work," Rockman sighed. "Netto's locked himself in his room and if he doesn't come out soon, I'm going to be stuck in school!"

Blues was silent for a moment. "Is that really your biggest problem?" Blues called out to Enzan and repeated what Rockman had told him.

"Netto's locked himself in his room?" Enzan questioned in a curious tone. "I could try talking to him..."

"Please!" Rockman begged. "I think this is one of those times where he won't listen to me."

Enzan seemed surprised that such times existed but he began making his way to the Hikari house.

* * *

Enzan pounded on the door. "Netto Hikari! I'm going to systematically remove this door and let myself in, if you don't let me in!"

The door opened a crack. Netto stared silently from the other side. The gloom he was feeling felt thick in the air. Enzan put his foot in the door so Netto couldn't close it on him.

"Can I come in?" he asked, rather nicely this time.

Netto looked at Enzan's foot and then back at his face. His eyes seemed almost dull with code as he processed what to do. Finally, he stepped away and let Enzan in, closing the door after him. Netto eyed the empty PET pocket attached Enzan's upper arm and Enzan figured that it was a good thing he had decided to leave Blues with Saito downstairs.

Netto silently climbed back up into his bed and sat there, staring at Enzan.

"Huh. You really are sulking," Enzan huffed, disappointed. "What caused it this time?"

Netto was silent for a moment before responding quietly, "nothing."

Enzan knew this probably had something to do with the advice he and Blues had given Netto. It wasn't like he could make the situation worse by bringing it up.

"You don't sulk over 'nothing'. So, here's what I know. Saito wants you to tell Meiru about your being Megaman and how that came to be. Honestly, I agree."

Netto glared at him. Enzan ignored it. He still had more to say.

"But how did Saito approach it?" When Netto gave him a confused look and didn't answer, Enzan rephrased. "What did Saito say?"

Netto mumbled into his knees. "He wanted to know why I didn't tell my friends. He said I should tell them. He even had a list of reasons to tell them."

"And you don't want to tell them?" Enzan questioned. Netto nodded unhappily. Enzan sighed. "Honestly, Saito made it sound like he just wanted you to tell Meiru. My understanding from Blues is that he has a relationship with her navi and it's difficult for them to have to keep the secret around her. He doesn't want to betray your trust and tell her accidentally."

"...But he said my friends. All of them," Netto questioned in confusion.

"I don't know why he did that. Only Saito does."

"...when did you start calling him Saito?"

"A while ago. Blues started doing it first." Enzan shrugged. "Anyway, maybe you should talk to him."

Netto shook his head. "He won't listen. He's stubborn."

That made the two of them, Enzan thought. "Okay, let's go get something to eat."

"I don't need food," Netto responded with a sad sigh.

"Can you have food?" Enzan asked.

Netto shook his head. "Generally, no."

Enzan winced. He knew Netto had liked food while alive based on how he acted whenever it was a mealtime. "Then a netbattle?"

Netto stared at him curiously. "A netbattle?"

"Yeah." What was he thinking? Would a netbattle really help cheer Netto up? He knew Netto loved to netbattle, just like he had liked food, and netbattling was something he could do.

* * *

"A netbattle?" Saito questioned in surprise. Visible on the PET, Blues silently agreed to the battle. Saito stared at Netto. "Really?"

"It was Enzan's challenge," Netto said, jabbing Enzan in the side.

"Okay," Saito said. Netto was out of his room so he wasn't going to question it. "Who's battling who?"

"It'll be up to you two whether Saito operates or Netto does," Enzan said.

"It's not like Enzan or I can switch places," Blues added.

Saito and Netto stared at each other, neither really sure which role they wanted to take.

"Do you want to operate?" Saito asked Netto, not really sure if Netto wanted to keep their usual roles for this.

"Of course," Netto said, grinning. Saito linked over to Netto's PET. "Alright, Enzan! Let's go!"

The battle was a fierce one. Neither navi could give an inch because it would mean their defeat. Both operators were focused on which chips to use next and how to best counter what was coming their way. For a while, Netto and Saito could focus on something else other than their conditions.

However, it was also obvious that Netto and Rockman hadn't been practising as much as usual. They eventually were defeated, Blues' sword coming to rest at Rockman's throat.

Netto let out a cry of frustration but ceded the match to Enzan and Blues.

"You need to practise more," Enzan said. However, he was smiling. "At least Rockman managed to pose some kind of challenge."

Netto huffed. "We'll beat you next time! We just have to train harder, right Rockman?"

"Right!"

"Looking forward to it," Enzan responded.

"Rockman, now's a good time to bring up what you would like Netto to do," Blues said to the little blue navi.

"What? But you just got him to cheer up! What if Netto gets angry again?"

Blues huffed. "A navi doesn't worry about making their operator angry. We do what's best for them. What's best for Netto right now?"

Being happy, Rockman thought. But he also thought that Netto's best chance of that was to talk to Meiru about what had happened.

"Enzan," Blues said to his operator.

Enzan got the hint. "Netto, I believe Rockman has something he wants to say. Phrase it properly this time, thank you Rockman."

Rockman felt his face heat up at that. "Um... Netto?"

"Yes?" Netto questioned.

"Meiru was really worried when you disappeared. And I know it's been difficult to talk with Roll sometimes because we've been worried about accidentally telling Meiru without your permission. I think... I think if you want to stay friends with Meiru, you're going to have to tell her what happened!"

Netto silently stared at his navi. Slightly worried and flustered, Rockman continued;

"I mean, you don't have to tell her today or even tomorrow. Just... sometime soon? Before the end of the year maybe?"

"You don't have to answer right away then," Enzan commented.

"...right," Netto said. "Rockman, let me think about it, okay?"

Rockman nodded. Even though Netto had all the time since they had returned to tell her and he didn't think waiting much longer would do anything, he didn't say anything about that. Blues had shook his head to indicate that staying quiet would be the best option right now.

Netto did seem to have a thoughtful expression on his face.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

* * *

Meiru breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Netto walk out of the Hikari house.

"Netto!" she called out happily, waving.

"Rockman!" Roll said as they got closer to each other.

"Hey," Rockman greeted back from his PET.

"I see Netto's feeling better."

Rockman grinned and nodded.

"I heard Saito came to school for me," Netto said to Meiru. "What did you think?"

"I think he didn't really like it," Meiru responded. "Is this for your father's research? Is that why Saito came to school?"

Netto shook his head. "Actually, Papa hasn't been home much lately. I haven't seen him in a couple of days. What do you mean he didn't really like it?"

"Roll tallied how many times he said he was bored," Meiru said.

"Maybe it's because Megaman wasn't there to distract him," Roll theorised with small grin in Rockman's direction.

"Sure, let's go with that," Rockman said to Roll, causing her to giggle.

Netto just seemed amused that Rockman had found school boring. He teased the navi about it on their way to school. Right before they entered the gate, he stopped.

"I was actually wondering if you found it strange that the kid you hung out with was really a navi," Netto said.

Meiru thought about that one. "Not really. I mean, we hang out with Roll and Rockman everyday." The she grinned. "I think it'd be cool if Roll could go to school like Saito did! We could do schoolwork together and read with each other, it'd be great!"

"That does sound great, Meiru," Roll said with a soft smile.

"That sounds boring," Netto said. He looked at Rockman. "Doesn't it?"

"We have actually done that before," Rockman reminded him with a sigh. "And you seemed to have fun."

Watching the two brothers talk, Meiru thought of something.

"Hey, Roll? What happened to Megaman?" Meiru asked as she walked to the classroom. She knew Netto would catch up when he was ready.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, Saito didn't have Megaman with him when he came to school. So did Dr Hikari get rid of him? I'd be sad if that was the case."

"Megaman's fine," Roll said. "But I can't tell you where he is."

That was a strange answer but Meiru was good at not prying where it wasn't her business. These were the kinds of things which were related to Dr Hikari's job so she wasn't surprised that there were things she couldn't know.

"As long as he hadn't been deleted."

"Never!" Roll said strongly. "I don't think Rockman would let that happen!"

Meiru laughed. Just like Netto, then.

* * *

Netto dreaded the last bell of the day. Today was the day he would take steps to telling Meiru about himself. Yes, he was going to do it. Any moment now.

"Um, Netto?" Rockman questioned from the PET. "The bell's gone." Normally they would be gone the second they were able to leave.

"I know!" Netto huffed. He looked around the half-empty room and made his way over to Meiru's desk. "Do you have time this afternoon?" he asked.

"Her schedule is free!" Roll shouted back.

"What?" Meiru questioned. She knew she at least had piano lessons today. "But-"

"I'll take care of it!" Roll said, vanishing into the net.

Meiru gave Netto a baffled look. "Rockman, do you know what that was about?"

The navi rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding her gaze. "I can guess. Netto, should I go after her?" What Rockman was really asking was whether Netto wanted privacy.

"If you want." Netto didn't mind one way or the other. A moment later, Rockman vanished from his PET in a shower of pixels.

Netto and Meiru walked home in silence. Meiru had a feeling something was going on. Roll wouldn't have offered to cancel her afternoon chores otherwise. She kept an eye on Netto, waiting to see if he would explain.

However, they reached his house without anything happening.

"Um, Netto? Can I come over?" she asked. "I can help you with your homework."

"Sure!" Netto responded instantly. Meiru wondered if he had even heard the 'homework' part. It seemed he wanted her around for another reason.

"Is everything okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," Netto responded as he opened the door. "Mama! I'm home!" The house was silent. "Huh, I wonder if she's out."

"She's probably shopping for dinner ingredients."

Netto agreed and went over to the table. Meiru stared in surprise as he got out his homework and looked ready to begin.

"What?"

"Okay, what's going on?" she demanded to know. There was no way Netto would just quietly get out his homework stuff like that. "What are you trying to avoid?"

Netto stared at her and then dropped his gaze. "I wanted to tell your something. It's probably going to change things," and he really didn't want things to change right now. "But it's something you should know."

"Okay." There was a worried stirring in Meiru's gut. It was rare for Netto to talk so seriously. "What is it?"

Netto thought for a few moments, various emotions playing out on his face before his groaned and scratched at his head.

"It's so difficult to explain! It might be better to just show you."

Meiru nodded. She had no clue what was going on but whatever helped Netto get through this, whatever 'this' was, was worth a try.

Netto stood up and walked over to the couch. "Okay, I'll show you and then explain." With that said, he turned to the couch and, in a flash of pixels, his body was replaced with a copyroid.

Meiru's eyes widened as she took it in. The white and formless robot body was still standing in the middle of the room.

Could it have been Saito she had been talking to the whole time? No, Rockman had gone after Roll. Then again, that didn't eliminate the possibility.

While she was thinking, someone said her name. She hadn't noticed before but there was a PET sitting on the couch. The Hikari family emblem decorated the PET and, aside from the yellow and orange colours, it looked a lot like Netto's.

* * *

Meiru walked over and looked at the screen, feeling like there was something obvious she should be getting here but her head aching in the way which said she didn't want to piece it together. At least she recognised the navi staring back at her.

"Megaman?"

"So, uh, Meiru. I suppose I should explain." The voice and the mannerisms were all familiar.

She felt like she was being silly but she had to ask if Megaman was Netto. The navi nodded, looking at his boots with a small frown.

"But! I didn't mean to hide this from you! It's just a lot to take in."

"How?" Meiru questioned. "Were you always a navi?"

Megaman shook his head. "No. Remember when I vanished from school?" Meiru nodded. "I was diagnosed with HBD. I thought it was nothing much, that I could beat it. There's a cure now."

"And?" Meiru asked. Although she could guess some of what happened next. Something went wrong. They wouldn't be having this conversation if everything had gone as planned.

"And I died."

"But you're here."

"Yeah. I'm here digitally. But physically, I died. I guess you could say my mind was transferred into a digital body and now I'm Megaman."

This was weird. "Can you go back into the copyroid?"

Megaman nodded and jumped back over. Before her eyes, the white copyroid flashed and pixelated into the image of her childhood friend.

"Ta-dah," Netto said, trying to lighten the mood. Then he continued, "I didn't really know how to tell you this." He also didn't know how she would react.

She didn't know how to react. It felt like there were so many emotions inside her that she couldn't express any of them. Her mind kept screaming at her to say something but she didn't know what to say.

"Does anyone else know?"

"Enzan found out. So Blues knows as well. And Roll."

"Roll?"

Netto nodded. "Rockman told her enough to figure it out. After all, this isn't the first time something like this has happened."

Meiru looked at her PET. Roll wasn't back yet. But Meiru was one of very few people to know. Netto picked up Megaman's PET and placed it on the table, next to Rockman's PET.

Meiru took a deep breath. And then another. What to do? She needed time to process this. Glancing around only gave her one idea.

"Okay! Let's get our homework done!" she announced loudly.

"What?" Netto was shocked. That was her reaction?

"Look, I don't really get everything but I know you," Meiru rambled. "And if I leave now, you're not going to get that homework done. Then you'll ask to copy mine!" Almost on autopilot, she pulled out the chair and sat down, pulling out her own homework and encouraging Netto to sit down. She could cry when she got home. For now, she needed to be strong for her obviously skittish friend. There was no telling what Netto would do if she left now.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

* * *

It was difficult to focus on homework when all her thoughts kept going back to Netto and his situation. He was a netnavi now? What did that mean for them? Would they stay together like always or would Netto go and live on the net with Roll and the other navis?

He still looked human. His hair was tied back in the bandanna, keeping his face visible as he made grumpy faces at his homework paper. He ran his hand through it and his mouth made small movements like he was complaining to himself. His eyes squinted and moved as he read the paper.

"Ugh! I give up!" Netto suddenly said, shoving the papers away. "I don't want to do this!"

That sounded more like the Netto she knew and not the person who she had been accompanying so far this afternoon. Meiru felt lighter at the sound of his frustration and she started giggling before she realised it.

Netto frowned at her in a dissatisfied way. "Come on, show me yours!" He grabbed her homework before she could stop him and his eyes widened at the blank piece of paper. "Whoa."

Meiru had been so caught up in analysing Netto that she forgot that she had her own homework to do.

"I'll do it tonight!" she countered quickly as Netto started laughing.

Netto quickly grabbed his own homework and put the two together. "Then let's forgot about this and play online!"

"No way. You won't get your homework done if we stop here," Meiru said.

"I'll help him do it," a voice said from the stairs. Saito stood there with a smug smile on his face. "That way you two can have some fun."

Meiru stared in shock. Where did he come from?

"Awesome!" Netto cheered. "Alright Saito, let's get you back in the computer! Meiru, bring your PET and connect with Roll!"

Meiru picked her PET up automatically, hand brushing against the other yellow-orange PET on the table.

"What about Megaman?" she mused, recalling the navi who belonged to that coloured PET.

Netto froze. "Uh.. well…?"

Saito groaned. "Don't tell me that you didn't tell her!"

"Hey, you have no right to complain! Maybe I don't like talking about the time I actually died!"

Meiru didn't like the sad stirring inside when she was reminded of that. "Yeah, I thought we were not talking about it too." She needed to think about something else. Positive thoughts. Roll was good at that. Maybe a question to distract them? "Can Megaman netbattle?"

It was an innocent question and it had part of the desired effect as Saito started laughing. However, Netto looked shocked and hurt and horrified all at once.

"I fought Blues in that competition back with Hub, remember?" Netto shrieked.

Meiru had to think back.

"The Higsby's Battle Chip Netbattle Competition. We came second. It's also where you guys cornered me," Saito helpfully explained.

"Oh!" Meiru recalled not really paying attention to that battle. She had been paying attention to Hub who they had thought was Netto but had been acting very different to Netto.

"Let's just go with Netto and Rockman," Saito said with a kind smile.

* * *

Netto sighed happily once Meiru was gone. Battling viruses with her had been fun. Roll was a strong navi and seemed to have some kind of charming effect on the viruses which was amusing to watch. Especially since she had managed to attract the _Gōsurā_ , the ghost-like viruses. Rockman hated ghosts and tended to freak out whenever they were around.

Netto didn't blame him, since the Gōsurā teleported around and went invisible before attacking. They were difficult to hit and could also heal themselves, a lethal combination for anyone looking to fight them.

But, seeing Rockman's freakouts whenever they were around made the troublesome fights slightly more amusing than annoying.

"You still have to get your homework done," Saito said, suddenly standing before him. It seemed Rockman had logged off into the copyroid and come down just to bug him.

"Nah. I'll just copy Meiru's tomorrow."

Saito huffed. "I promised Meiru that you'd do it. It's the only reason she was okay with slacking off. Roll's over there right now, making sure she gets her homework done."

"Hey, Rock?" Saito froze. It was rare for Netto to call him 'Rock' in this form. "Do you think Meiru wants to act like nothing's changed as well?"

Saito thought about it. Meiru had been sneaking a lot of glances at Netto that evening and she was a lot less subtle about it than usual.

"It's hard to tell. At the very least, she seems okay with everything. Isn't that good?" Saito smiled. He was happy about this.

Netto didn't seem as happy. He just grunted and sluggishly started his homework.

* * *

Meiru stumbled into her room and dropped onto her bed. She felt terrible. Pressing her face into her pillow, she let tears fall from her eyes.

How had she missed it? She lived next door and she had somehow missed Netto, not only being hospitalised but also, dying. In a way, the Netto she knew was gone forever. His body was no longer like hers. It was made from 1s and 0s. Was he even the same Netto or was this just a program mimicking her old friend so well that she didn't have to think about how she'd never see him again?

"Meiru?" Roll called timidly from the PET. Meiru pried her face from her pillow and stared at the pink PET resting on the bed next to her.

"What?" she sniffled.

"Are you okay?"

"I just found out that my oldest friend is made of data."

"So am I. Is it a problem to be made of data?"

"Not for you," Meiru quickly answered, knowing that she had offended the pink navi. "You're a navi and already made from data. Although you did lie to me about Megaman for weeks!"

Roll flinched when Meiru raised her voice.

"This is what Dr Hikari was worried about you knowing, isn't it?"

"He was worried I'd tell everyone about Rockman and Megaman. It was alright for them to figure out that Saito Hub was Rockman, since you all assumed that it was an experiment but not that Megaman was Netto Lan. Because there's no reason to turn a human into a netnavi without tragedy."

Tragedy was right. Meiru buried her face into her pillow and let the tears leak out.

"I thought it was a joke," Roll said quietly.

Meiru lifted her head and rubbed at her eyes. "What?"

"When Rockman told me he was born a human, Netto's twin, I thought it was a joke." Roll looked at the ground and rubbed her arms nervously. This was not a story she liked telling. Meiru moved closer so that she wouldn't miss a quiet word from her navi. "I laughed. He went quiet and left. I really hurt him." Even now, the wide-eyed expression Rockman had given her before walking away hurt her heart. She wished she could go back so she didn't know what he looked like when a loved one let him down. "And he had expected as much. You know Rockman, he can be meticulous. When he came back, he had his birth and death certificates as well as some files I don't think I was ever supposed to see."

"Files?"

"Reports about his creation. I don't think he was supposed to see them either but somehow he had a copy. Rockman likes to pretend that he told me willingly and that it was no big deal but, he only told me because he had evidence to prove that he was telling the truth and because he had prepared himself for my rejection."

Meiru winced.

"I acted almost entirely as Rockman expected."

Meiru gave a sympathetic hiss. She had no idea Roll had gone through this.

"Almost. I didn't completely reject him. Once I managed to convince him of that, we sat and talked."

"So Saito died too," Meiru mused.

"But he has admitted that he's much more comfortable on the net. It is where he grew up," Roll said. "Maybe Netto's the same? Maybe he prefers the physical world where he grew up?"

"Maybe," Meiru sighed. So Netto might not be leaving her for the world of the net anytime soon. "But where does that leave us?"

Roll thought about it. She probably couldn't tell her operator that she and Netto hadn't made much progress on the romantic front the way she and Rockman had.

"Childhood friends who like each other?" Roll suggested. After a beat, she added with a grin, "I'm sure you can still kiss him in the copyroid if you wanted to."

Meiru's face heated up at the thought. She couldn't! "R-R-R-R-Roll!" she stammered, hiding her face. She didn't want to kiss Netto! Leaning in close. Pressing their lips together. She had never done that before! What if she was bad at it? What if someone saw? What if Netto didn't want to?

Meiru let out a little squeak and dove back into bed, seeking to end the conversation. She didn't notice that her tears had tried.

On the homepage, Roll shook her head fondly. Their operators were far from getting together and Netto's situation didn't affect that.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

* * *

Rockman breathed a sigh of relief as Netto complained about not having time to get ready. He was going to school, which was something Rockman had been afraid Netto would stop doing again.

"Maybe if you woke up earlier," Rockman teased his brother.

"Maybe if you could actually wake me up," Netto teased right back.

"You have an internal clock. Use it."

"Never."

"Oi!" Meiru shouted from her doorstep as they left their house. She pulled out her scooter and came down to the sidewalk to meet them. "Just because nothing has to change, doesn't mean you can't put in the effort to be on time!"

"Nothing has to change?" Netto echoed quietly to himself. It was the first time he could recall someone telling him that.

Meiru didn't hear him. "It'd be nice if you could actually be on time. Roll, do you think Rockman-"

"Rockman already does his best to get Netto up in time," Roll interrupted.

"That I do," Rockman sighed.

Meiru rode her scooter as Netto skated through the crowds.

"We're going to be so late!" Meiru complained.

"Maybe I should just leave a copyroid in school and go by net," Netto mused. "It's faster."

Meiru glared at him. "You do that and I'm not waiting for you."

"Where would you even get another copyroid?" Roll mused.

Rockman realised instantly and glared at his brother. "You're not using mine."

"Why not? At least I leave it properly charged."

"I don't care. It's mine."

"What are you even going to use it for?"

Rockman was silent. He didn't really know. But it was his and not Netto's to play with.

Neither of the twins noticed when Meiru had an idea.

* * *

Netto didn't get his homework done. Now it was late and Rockman was getting ready to go see Roll. Megaman was pacing back and forth across the homepage.

"Do you want to come with me?" Rockman asked. If he left Megaman alone now, his twin was going to fret like crazy until he returned. There weren't many people who could calm Megaman down when he got all worked up over having incomplete homework the night before it was due.

"No. I wouldn't want to get between you two," Megaman responded.

"Maybe you can keep Meiru company then," Rockman suggested. It seemed to be the magic phrase as Megaman stopped pacing and followed Rockman out onto the net and then onto Meiru's homepage.

The link to Meiru's homepage let them through with no issues. Roll bounced on Rockman the moment he appeared.

"Rock!" Then she noticed the other navi. "Mega!"

Megaman flinched back as he was wrapped in one of Roll's heavy hugs.

"Mega?" Megaman questioned in shock.

Rockman knew that Megaman was never going to be able to shake the nickname now.

A giggling came from above them and Meiru appeared on screen. "Mega. That's cute."

Megaman's face went red. "I'm not cute! I'm a powerful netnavi! Like Rockman!"

"Sorry Mega. But Rockman is cute," Roll said, taking Rockman's hand. "And I'm going to take him over there for a bit, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Megaman said dismissively, visibly pouting.

"Good. Look after Meiru for me!" Roll said with a wave as she pulled Rockman off into the distance.

"Did she just throw her work onto me?" Megaman questioned, looking up at his childhood friend.

"I don't know how much help you're going to be though," Meiru mused. "I'm working on the homework."

"Probably no help then," Megaman confirmed with a shake of his head. "I haven't even started." He pulled up the digital copy of his homework.

"Great. I'm never going to understand question ten."

Megaman scrolled over to that question and read it out loud. He looked up to see Meiru reading over it again.

"Look, pay attention to these words," he said, pulling up his digital copy and highlighting the important parts of the question.

"Oh!" Meiru said, understanding a bit more now that she could just ignore the other parts. While she wrote her answer, Megaman figured there was no point in not doing his questions so he quickly tried to catch up.

After he helped her with question thirteen, he had managed to reach the same question and could work with her on it. It felt like forever to the little navi but the final question was completed and he could mark his homework as complete.

"He finished his homework," Rockman marvelled, pulling up and looking over the completed work. "It's actually done."

"You could act a little less like it's a miracle," Megaman grumbled.

"Meiru? Did you finish yours?" Roll questioned kindly.

"Yes. Net- I mean Megaman, was actually helpful."

"What do you mean 'actually'? I'll have you know I'm a very helpful navi."

"I had to rely on my own clock when I was Hub," Rockman pointed out. "And you really weren't too helpful with my homework either. Maybe I'm not pretty enough."

"What do you mean by that?" Megaman raged, flailing his arms around. One which switched into his buster.

Rockman grinned and charged his brother, knocking him to the ground. He held him down.

"You have a long way to go before you can be considered a 'helpful navi'. However, if you want to try, I'm willing to give you lessons."

Roll felt a shiver go through her data. "Did that sound like a threat to you?" she asked Meiru.

"Come on Rockman, that's kind of a mean joke."

Rockman let Megaman up. "It's not a joke though. If he wanted me to, I'd teach him to be the best navi ever."

"No thanks. I'm not looking to be the best navi."

"You don't have to be the best but could you maybe help me with me homework again?" Meiru asked.

Megaman made a shocked little noise and stared at Meiru. Meiru looked away, face going red.

Roll decided to save them a little embarrassment.

"Is this because Netto actually finished his while helping?"

"I'll pull him over her myself if it means Netto gets his homework done as well!" Rockman quickly added with a wide grin.

Megaman frowned, cheeks puffing out in frustration.

"Why?" he questioned. "You have Roll."

"Yeah, but I like it when Roll has time to hang out with Rockman. This is the best time for it but, usually she helps me with my homework so they don't get to be together until late."

"Fine," Megaman sighed. He liked giving Rockman time with his girlfriend as well. He wasn't against spending time with Meiru like this either. It was surprisingly a lot easier to visit her house when he was a navi.

* * *

Meiru had been jittery all day. Mariko Sensei had commented on it, telling her to focus on the lesson.

"What's going on?" Rockman asked Roll.

Roll shrugged. "She said she had something she wanted to ask you two but, other than that, I have no idea."

Rockman was confused. He couldn't think of anything Meiru might want to ask. After all, they had regular homework sessions now. Netto would go home and jump on the net with Rockman and they would go over to Meiru's computer. Then Megaman would work on homework with Meiru. Rockman and Roll would go on walks, rest, talk and whatever they wanted while their operators were occupied. It was a good routine in Rockman's eyes.

"Do you think she's going to cancel the homework sessions?" Netto fretted. This was an interesting and new behaviour from his younger twin.

"Do you want her to?" Rockman asked.

Netto glared at him. "No. I think Mariko Sensei has started getting used to me turning my homework in and even Mama seems happier now that she's not getting messages from the school every couple of weeks about how many times my homework has come in late. Papa even congratulated me on it."

"I'd like to think you could do your homework yourself now," Rockman said. "But I wouldn't like it if the sessions were cancelled either."

Netto gave him a relieved smile. Sometimes it was just nice to know someone else shared your opinion.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

* * *

Megaman looked up from his homework.

"Did I hear that right?" Had Meiru just suggested that he and Saito switch for the day?

"I was thinking that it might be nice," Meiru said. "After all, we have a school trip to the aquarium and I heard that some of the other girls in the class were going to team up with boys."

"Okay. And your idea fits in how?"

"Well, it won't just be you two switching. I thought... maybe it would be nice to have Saito take Roll and I'll take you around the aquarium."

"Wait. So, you and me teamed up for this class trip but as you and Megaman?"

Meiru nodded while avoiding looking directly at his screen.

Megaman thought about it. He wouldn't mind going to school as Megaman again. Catching up on the work was not fun but being able to slack off in the computer was great. He got files for Saito and then either hung out or slept.

Of course, Rockman complained that he left his PET in a mess and might be adverse to the suggestion that Megaman use it for a long period of time again. Megaman didn't care about the state of his PET but Rockman did. He was always jumping in to clean it, saying it irritated him to see his little brother staying in a mess. But having almost a day to hang out with Roll might sway his brother.

"There's nothing to do but ask," Megaman commented putting his homework away.

* * *

Rockman looked from Megaman to Meiru. "Did you really suggest such an idea?"

Meiru shifted nervously. "Well, yes. It might be fun."

"It does sound fun!" Roll confirmed, clapping her hands. She wrapped her arms around Rockman's arm. "Come on, Rock. Doesn't it sound like fun? I promise to be a good navi for you."

"I-I... uh." That sounded weird. Not bad weird but, well, it was weird to have that kind of power over someone. Especially when they weren't family like he and Megaman were. But Roll was grinning and seemed excited. "Okay."

"Yes!" Megaman cheered.

"We should let Mama and Papa know first," Rockman said. "And get my copyroid looked at again." Rockman had been paranoid about checking his copyroid for faults since he almost ran out of power at school.

Mama agreed almost too easily. Saito was a little surprised. He expected more of a fight since they were essentially giving Netto the day off. And the copyroid was fine. After the school incident, Saito had been using it more often so they had been able to keep up maintenance on it.

Netto gave a note to Mariko Sensei who seemed surprised to read that Netto wouldn't be attending but his brother was going in his place. Netto grinned at his teacher and started explaining about how Saito was homeschooled and had never been on a class trip before, so they agreed to switch for this one.

It was only because his mother had okayed it that the switch was allowed. Even so, Mariko Sensei didn't say anything about it until the day.

* * *

Saito pulled on his backpack and slot his PET into it's holder. He gripped the straps of his backpack, trying to keep his hands from trembling.

"I'm so nervous," he whined. "There's no way we can do this!"

"Mariko Sensei has already been told. We can't back out now," Megaman reminded him. His navi glared at him and crossed his arms. "If it was me, we'd be out that door already."

"That's because, if it was you, we'd be five minutes late," Saito muttered to himself as he started walking towards the front door. Meiru was sitting on her porch and was surprised to see him so early.

"Saito!" she called out, quickly grabbing her stuff and bolting down to walk with him.

Saito paused to let her catch up. "Hi," he said nervously. "You look nice."

Meiru grinned at him and adjusted her pink jacket and skirt. "Ready for today?"

"As much as I can be. The copyroid is fully charged and everyone's been informed."

"Oh, so someone told Yaito and Dekao that you were coming today."

Megaman cursed.

Meiru giggled while Saito corrected his navi's language.

"This is going to be interesting," she commented.

"What if they figure it out?" Saito questioned quickly, mind wrapping around the possibilities. What if they don't like him? What if they try to hurt him? What if there's a net attack or something?

"Breathe Saito. Give your systems something else to focus on," Megaman coached. "Everything will be fine. We even have a strategy for fighting Gutsman, in case Dekao challenges you."

"He better not," Meiru said. "We're switching navis, remember?"

"...we actually didn't factor that into any of our plans," Megaman commented.

"I'm going to get Roll deleted," Saito panicked.

"Stop it, Saito," Roll said in a sharp tone. "We won't be netbattling unless we have to and I'm a fairly capable navi on my own."

Megaman started laughing. "The day's barely started and already Saito's in trouble!"

"You're not helping," Roll said to Megaman, glaring at him.

"It's not my fault my operator is a worrywart," Megaman countered. He grinned up at Saito. "Come on! It'll be fine. You're just panicking to have something to do."

Saito sighed and held his PET out to Meiru.

"Are you sure you want this? He's quite noisy."

Meiru giggled. "It's just for one day." She passed him Roll and took Megaman. "Hi, Megaman!"

"Hi Meiru! How about challenging Dekao? We could totally grind him into dust!"

"As nice as that sounds," Meiru's tone said she thought it was anything but nice, "I think we should just focus on the trip today."

Megaman shoulders slouched.

* * *

Saito was prepared for the strange looks he got as soon as Mariko Sensei said his name. It seemed that Yaito did know but Dekao was completely shocked.

"Where's Netto? Playing games at home again?" Dekao demanded to know.

"Something like that," Saito responded with a polite smile. "Mama has him doing jobs around the house and extra homework."

Dekao made a face. It seemed he had been jealous until then. Saito felt a little bad for lying to him but it had to be done. Papa had come home a couple of nights ago and told them to keep the secret from the rest of Netto's friends, taking the decision out of their hands like how he had done back when Rockman had first been given to Netto.

"So you're coming with us," Yaito commented. "That's interesting."

"Interesting?" Saito questioned.

"Is this another test of Dr Hikari's?" Yaito asked. "After all, an aquarium doesn't seem like the right place to take sophisticated technology like a copyroid after all."

"Is this because of the water? Papa did mention that." Saito had to sit through the 'how not to get the copyroid wet' speech. Even though it was water resistant and could go out in the rain, their Papa treated the aquarium like a death trap. Old thoughts about technology like 'don't get it wet' were difficult to avoid. "I'll be fine."

It looked like Yaito wanted to say something else but she turned away and started walking inside. Saito wondered what that was about.

"It's time to head inside," Roll said. There was restrained excitement in her voice.

"Okay. Where do you want to go?"

Roll giggled. "Isn't the operator supposed to choose?"

"I honestly don't care where we end up. Everything's going to be new." They followed everyone else inside and down a glass tunnel. All around them was water and sea creatures.

Saito remembered running around an aquarium system before. The water in the tanks had seemed brighter than this. And there appeared to be little things floating in the water.

"I don't think I'd enjoy swimming," he muttered, mostly to himself. His brother had been curious about what swimming in these bodies would be like but Saito didn't really care. "Do you think pools have all these floating things?"

"There's not supposed to be any animals in pools," Roll responded in slight confusion.

"I meant the... I guess 'dirt' is the best word for it."

Roll giggled. "I wouldn't have thought that dirt was something you'd worry about."

"It just seems off to me," Saito responded, face heating up.

"Hey," Yaito said, suddenly appearing when Saito stepped back. "What's with the pink PET?"

Saito gave her a confused look. Yaito pointed to Roll's PET and asked again.

"You know, I'm not the only one who's noticed. People think you and Meiru are dating because you two switched PETs for the day."

"People who are dating switch PETs?" Saito questioned.

"It's just what people are saying. You're not dating Meiru, right?"

"I'm dating Roll," Saito explained. "I thought we made that clear."

"I wouldn't say 'clear,'" Glide commented from Yaito's PET. "It's sometimes difficult to tell."

Roll glared at the other navi. Saito sighed and frowned.

"There's really nothing we can do about what people think."

Yaito thought otherwise. But when she tried to say something about how they shouldn't switch PETs and give everyone the wrong idea, Megaman interrupted.

"Let Saito hang out with his girlfriend for the day! He made all the preparations to come here." The navi sounded frustrated.

Glide glared at him for his lack of manners.

"Boys," Roll sighed, holding up her hands. She would break them up if they tried to fight each other.

"Don't worry about it," Saito said. "There's a simple answer to this. We leave Meiru and Megaman alone and head off in the other direction. I doubt we can be considered dating when we don't even hang out."

"Saito," Meiru seemed disappointed with that idea but Saito was already walking away. She frowned at Yaito who said she was only looking out for her.

"I don't think this'll solve the problem," Roll pointed out to Saito.

Saito shrugged. "Yeah. But at least I don't have to hear about it."

Roll shook her head. But she couldn't say anything when Saito's face lit up upon seeing a jellyfish.

"Hey, Roll! Look at these guys! They look like Jelly viruses!"

* * *

Megaman sighed and lay down on the floor of the PET.

"Mega?" Meiru questioned, her face appearing.

"Hey!" he greeted cheerfully, sitting up.

Meiru was unimpressed. "Are you bored?"

"A little," he responded. "There's not much I can look at in here."

"Seriously?" Meiru huffed. She held the PET up so Megaman could see inside the shark tank. "Check these guys out."

Megaman pressed against the screen, staring at the big, sharp toothed, creatures. They moved slower than he thought they would. "Huh. Cool."

Meiru frowned at him. "I expected more of a reaction than that."

"Maybe if I was out there. But it's like watching TV in here," Megaman responded, waving his hand at Meiru's face on the screen.

"I didn't think about that," Meiru said, disappointed. She wanted Netto to have fun too but hadn't thought about whether he would find looking through a screen exciting. And she had asked him to give up the chance today just so they could spend time together. "Maybe we should come back again with you in the copyroid."

Megaman shrugged. "Sure. I was more excited about the switch today than visiting the aquarium though."

Meiru continued looking around. She was enjoying herself but she wasn't so sure about Megaman. Then she spotted a jack in port. It seemed the staff had included it for battle chip hunters.

"Hey, you can fight aquatic viruses in here," Meiru commented.

Megaman was pressed against the screen instantly, bouncing a little. "Let's try it!" It was no netbattle but he figured it would be safer to battle viruses with Meiru in control anyway.

The connection opened and Megaman jumped across to the aquarium network. It was themed in blue with pictures of fish floating around in the background.

"Virus hunting time!" he decreed, stepping into the unknown.

* * *

Right before lunch, the group came back together for a show. Saito and Meiru sat far away from each other, to keep the rumours from spreading. After the show was lunch and then they went back to school.

"Aw man, that was fun!" Dekao commented in a satisfied voice and patting his large belly.

"You sure it wasn't just lunch that was fun?" Yaito commented, referring to the grand amount of food Dekao had eaten before they left.

Saito snickered and pulled out Meiru's PET. "Here's Roll back. Today was good, thanks."

"Same to you," Meiru returned, swapping Megaman's PET for hers. "Don't you agree, Megaman and Roll? Today was fun, right?"

"Right!" They responded in unison.

"By the way, Saito, Meiru owes me battlechips," Megaman said.

Meiru huffed. "I do not. I was the one operating you at the time and that means the battlechips go to me, as they do every operator."

"Yeah, but I'm also an operator sometimes and I was the one actually fighting. Come on Meiru, just a couple?"

"Fine. But only a couple."

Megaman cheered.

"What's this all about?" Saito questioned in confusion.

"We busted some viruses and Megaman wants some of the chips we gained while deleting the viruses for himself."

Saito gave his navi an exasperated look. He should know that battle chip data went to the operator. "Don't bug Meiru over a couple of battle chips. She put up with you for today."

* * *

Saito opened the door to the house.

"I'm home!" he called out.

Instead of his mother in the kitchen, he found his father sitting at the kitchen table.

"Saito? Why are you the one coming home from school?"

"I switched with Netto for the day. Meiru wanted to borrow Megaman during the aquarium visit."

"That was today?" Obviously their father had been working too hard again and had lost track of the days.

Saito nodded. "Yes."

"It was fun! Meiru let me bust some viruses and even gave me the chips we got in return!"

"More like, you asked for the chips and Meiru was too kind to tell you no."

"And how was your time at the aquarium?" Dr Hikari asked Saito.

Saito had to think carefully about how he answered. Roll hadn't been happy when he told her it was boring. "Not my thing," he responded with a shrug. He would have liked to be fighting viruses like Megaman. "But I think Meiru will want to trade navis again. Not that it matters, being with Roll was the nicest part of the day."

Dr Hikari went a little red. He didn't how to approach the romantic relationship his eldest had with the pink navi. He was just glad that they weren't doing things which could wait until they were older. He was also glad that Netto was oblivious when it came to romance and Meiru was a too shy to bring it up.

"So you both had some fun?"

Saito thought about it but nodded along with his brother. Dr Hikari was happy with that. He had been worried about the boys back when this all started, from the moment Netto flat-lined on the operating table. But they seemed to be settling into life again.

He probably owed his wife an apology. She had been right; moving to another place to start again hadn't helped the boys as much as being in the place they had grown up had. They were even experimenting with the versatility they possessed.

"Alright boys, how about we surprise Mama with dinner?"

"Yes!" Megaman agreed.

"I'm going to be cooking, aren't I?" Saito commented. Their papa and Netto couldn't cook well but he had been learning from Mama.

Papa nodded. "But I'll help get things out! And Megaman can look up a recipe for us!"

"Curry!" Megaman said, already running off to get curry recipes. Saito directed their father to where Mama kept the frying pan.

Mama loved the meal and Papa spoke about work while the two brothers sat opposite their parents and whispered to each other and made faces at their parents making lovey faces at each other.

* * *

 **Author's note:** That's it! This is the last chapter. Originally I was going to end it after Meiru found out but then I had this idea where she and Saito switch navis and ended up writing this chapter. So I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you sometime in December for the next story (because I'm doing Nanowrimo this month so no new stories).


End file.
